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Higher Costs, Pollution and Proliferation Dangers if Congress Opens Door to Reprocessing MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Minnesota's Congressional delegation is hearing today from a diverse group of 16 Minnesota organizations -- including Clean Water Action, Environment Minnesota, Sierra Club North Star Chapter and the Minnesota Peace Project -- that strongly oppose any effort to open the door to the reprocessing of radioactive waste from Prairie Island and other nuclear reactors when Capitol Hill considers climate and energy legislation. In the case of Xcel Energy's Prairie Island site, where the entire island, including the dry cask storage, sits in a flood plain of the Mississippi River, the waste needs to be moved to a more secure site as close to the reactor as possible as a necessary interim step. The joint letter states that the controversial and dangerous practice of reprocessing is "not a solution to Minnesota's or any state's nuclear waste problem." The letter explains in detail how reprocessing actually increases the volume of radioactive waste, is enormously costly, worsens proliferation concerns (including terrorist threats), increases pollution going into lakes, streams and rivers, and poses a range of safety risks. The full text of the 16-group letter is available online at http://www.carbonfreenuclearfree.org/state-groups/minnesota.

Higher Costs, Pollution and Proliferation Dangers if Congress Opens Door to Reprocessing MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Minnesota's Congressional delegation is hearing today from a diverse group of 16 Minnesota organizations -- including Clean Water Action, Environment Minnesota, Sierra Club North Star Chapter and the Minnesota Peace Project -- that strongly oppose any effort to open the door to the reprocessing of radioactive waste from Prairie Island and other nuclear reactors when Capitol Hill considers climate and energy legislation. In the case of Xcel Energy's Prairie Island site, where the entire island, including the dry cask storage, sits in a flood plain of the Mississippi River, the waste needs to be moved to a more secure site as close to the reactor as possible as a necessary interim step. The joint letter states that the controversial and dangerous practice of reprocessing is "not a solution to Minnesota's or any state's nuclear waste problem." The letter explains in detail how reprocessing actually increases the volume of radioactive waste, is enormously costly, worsens proliferation concerns (including terrorist threats), increases pollution going into lakes, streams and rivers, and poses a range of safety risks. The full text of the 16-group letter is available online at http://www.carbonfreenuclearfree.org/state-groups/minnesota.

vices Group, Inc., Class A radioactive waste Dissolving by way of Laguna Verde Nuclear August 19, 2008, August 21, 2008, consisting of Polyvinyl laundering in Power Plant, Mexico. IW026, 11005790. alcohol (PVA) based accordance with protective clothing and applicant's domestic related products license. contaminated with activation and mixed fission products (predominantly Co-60, Mn- 54, Fe-55, Ni-63, and Cs- 137). The physical and chemical form of most contaminants is solid particulate metal oxides.

Regarding the guest editorial "Time to reconsider nuclear power" published Monday, there are numerous aspects to nuclear power that the author fails to mention. Most importantly, when the Pioneer of Bemidji states that nuclear power is a clean energy source, that "today's technological advances can produce safe, efficient power plants," they are seriously mistaken. While coal burning is mentioned as a possibility for a continued and extensive source of energy, the level of carbon produced makes it seem like not a viable option. However, it is discovered that nuclear energy is not a very green choice, either.

Regarding the guest editorial "Time to reconsider nuclear power" published Monday, there are numerous aspects to nuclear power that the author fails to mention. Most importantly, when the Pioneer of Bemidji states that nuclear power is a clean energy source, that "today's technological advances can produce safe, efficient power plants," they are seriously mistaken. While coal burning is mentioned as a possibility for a continued and extensive source of energy, the level of carbon produced makes it seem like not a viable option. However, it is discovered that nuclear energy is not a very green choice, either.

There are some serious new safety concerns surrounding the Prarie Island nuclear power plant. The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission notified the plant last week that if nearby water pipes broke and flooded the plant, important safety equipment could fail. Those pipes carry non-radioactive cooling water out of the plant to the Mississippi. Experts for Xcel Energy say they have already fixed the problem. But city officials say this should be a warning to the state that Red Wing is underfunded to deal with the possibility of a major catastrophe."

An informational forum on depleted uranium sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Jan. 30 in the 3M auditorium at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul. In recent years, significant numbers of service members, including those in the Minnesota National Guard and Reserves, have been deployed overseas, where they might have worked with munitions and tanks reinforced with depleted uranium, a very dense metal.

During the presidential campaign John McCain stated that a partial solution to the energy crises would be to build 45 new nuclear plants. The suggestion did not generate a dialogue among either party and for good reason. There has not been a new nuclear plant built in the United States for 28 years. As a result, we have no nuclear "equipment" to technology supply source. Even if it was agreed to build one, it would take a half dozen years, to "tool up" to buy the necessary "hardware."

Sen. Norm Coleman says the U.S. needs to catch up with advances in nuclear power technology and build more plants. The Republican senator says nuclear power would reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil and help combat global warming because it doesn't produce emissions.

Q Everyone is talking about building more nuclear power plants to deal with our energy shortage, but no one is talking about storage of nuclear waste. Did we ever solve that problem? What happens to nuclear waste in Minnesota? Will there be new nuclear power plants here? A Those issues aren't resolved yet.

An attorney for the Prairie Island Indian Community voiced the community's concerns regarding the renewal license for the nearby Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant during a hearing on Wednesday in Hastings, Minn., in front of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's atomic safety and licensing board. Northern States Power Co. manages Xcel Energy Services, which owns the nuclear plant and hopes to extend operations at the Prairie Island plant for another 20 years and increase the number of on-site storage containers for nuclear waste.

Federal regulators will be in the Twin Cities this week concerning the Prairie Island nuclear plant's effort to have its license renewed and a challenge to that renewal by the Prairie Island Indian Community. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will hear oral arguments Wednesday in Hastings regarding the application for a license renewal for an additional 20 years of operation at the Xcel Energy plant near Red Wing.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) will hear oral arguments Oct. 29 in Hastings, Minn. regarding the application by Nuclear Management Company, LLC to renew its license for an additional 20 years of operation at the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2, located near Red Wing, Minn. The Prairie Island Indian Community has petitioned to intervene in the license renewal proceeding. The oral arguments will address the standing of this potential party to intervene and the admissibility of its various environmental and technical contentions. The oral arguments will be held in the Dakota County Judicial Center, Courtroom 2E, 1560 Highway 55 in Hastings. They will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. Central Time.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region III office in Lisle, Ill., activated its Incident Response Center today to monitor an unusual event declared at the Monticello Nuclear Power Plant. The plant, operated by Xcel Energy, is located in Monticello, Minn. The unusual event was declared at 10:30 a.m. when a contractor struck a power line, which resulted in a loss of power to non-safety equipment. The contractor was taken to an area hospital and pronounced dead, according to local authorities. The loss of power affected equipment necessary to provide cooling water to the reactor. Around 11:30 a.m. the plant restored the equipment necessary to provide cooling water support to the reactor in a shutdown condition.

A man working at Xcel Energy's nuclear generating plant in Monticello was injured and later died after the vehicle he was operating touched a high-voltage power line Wednesday morning, according to the Wright County Sheriff's Office.

Xcel Energy issued an elevated alert level Sunday after traces of hydrazine were discovered in the turbine building at its Prairie Island Nuclear Plant in Red Wing, Minnesota. Hydrazine, an ammonia-like chemical used to avoid corrosion and rusting in pipes, was reported higher than normal levels.

The public gets a chance to weigh in on Xcel Energy's plan to increase the output of its Monticello nuclear power plant. The state Public Utilities Commission will hold a hearing at 7 p.m. at the Monticello Community Center. Xcel wants to increase the plant's capacity to 656 megawatts from 585 by 2011.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will conduct public meetings on Wednesday, July 30, to solicit public comments on possible environmental impacts of 20 additional years of operation at the Prairie Island nuclear power plant, Units 1 and 2. The Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Station has two pressurized water reactors, located 28 miles southeast of Minneapolis. The plant's operator, Nuclear Management Co., submitted its license renewal application April 15.

Months of planning at the Monticello nuclear plant will be put into practice soon when spent nuclear fuel is moved to a new storage facility. Radioactive fuel rods will be moved in a process designed for safety and security from inside the plant to the above-ground storage.

WASHINGTON - In an effort to get nuclear waste moved away from Minnesota's Prairie Island Indian Community, its tribal officials are supporting a national nuclear dumping spot in Nevada - despite strong objections from Natives living in the Silver State.

Dakota, Goodhue and Pierce county residents should not be alarmed by the extra activity at the Prairie Island nuclear plant on Tuesday, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. State emergency responders will be participating in an exercise simulating a nuclear incident, said DPS spokesman Doug Neville. The exercise is designed to test the capabilities of emergency responders during a nuclear incident.

Questions about whether military radioactive waste was dumped by the Army Corps of Engineers into Lake Superior near Duluth were left unanswered by the Minnesota Department of Health's March 2008 consultation on the waste dumped near Duluth-Superior harbor. Indeed, the first concluding recommendation is that the dumping records be thoroughly researched. Health Department officials have admitted they have not yet done so.