Prairie Island plant back online
Xcel Energy has determined that a failed electrical cable caused the automatic shutdown of one of its nuclear reactors at Prairie Island earlier this week.
The incident happened about 1 p.m. Monday after a partial loss of turbine condenser cooling at the plant near Red Wing, which resulted in the turbine shutting down.
The company said no one was hurt, there was no release of radioactive material and there was no threat to the public.
The other reactor at Prairie Island was not affected and continued to run at full power all week.
Plant workers began repairing the reactor on Thursday, and will use a second pump to provide cooling water for the turbine while the cable is being repaired.
As of Friday morning, the reactor was running at 48 percent power. The unit is expected to return to full power in the next few days.
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