Xcel Energy Cleaning Up Leak At MN Nuclear Power Plant

MONTICELLO, MN — Xcel Energy is in the process of cleaning up a 400,000-gallon radioactive water spill that took place three months ago at its nuclear power plant in Monticello, the utility company announced Thursday.

The leak is contained and poses no health and safety risk to the local community or the environment, according to Xcel. The company said it notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and state officials on Nov. 22, 2022, the same day the leak was "confirmed."

"We have taken comprehensive measures to address this situation on-site at the plant. While this leak does not pose a risk to the public or the environment, we take this very seriously and are working to safely address the situation," said Chris Clark, who leads Xcel's Minnesota branch.

"We continue to gather and treat all potentially affected water while regularly monitoring nearby groundwater sources. We will continue to partner with local groundwater specialists, and we remain in close cooperation with state and federal regulators and our local community throughout the remediation effort."

Xcel said it's recovered about 25 percent of the tritium that was released and will continue to clean the spill site over the course of the next year.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, tritium is a byproduct in nuclear reactors, and its most common form is in water because radioactive tritium reacts with oxygen to form water.

Xcel identified the source of the leak as a water pipe running between two buildings at the plant. About 400,000 gallons of water containing tritium leaked from the pipe, according to the company.

To contain the leak, the facility is diverting the water to an in-plant water treatment system.

Officials said a thorough inspection was conducted of all piping where a leak could occur, and will study the one pipe that did leak in a laboratory to better understand what happened.

In its own statement, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said it is "working closely with other state agencies to oversee Xcel Energy’s monitoring data and cleanup activities" and that "we are working to ensure this cleanup is concluded as thoroughly as possible with minimal or no risk to drinking water supplies."

Patch has reached out to Xcel Energy for comment.