Replacement Steam Generators Arrive at Prairie Island

As part of life cycle management, Xcel Energy is replacing the steam generators on unit 2 at the Prairie Island nuclear generating facility near Red Wing, MN. The generators are scheduled to be replaced during the site’s fall 2013 refueling outage. The generators left France January 31 and traveled to the Mediterranean Sea and were off-loaded to an ocean vessel and shipped to New Orleans. Once there, they were again offloaded and placed on a barge to travel up the Mississippi River to the Prairie Island plant. The barge carrying the generators arrived at the plant the weekend of April 13. The Unit 2 steam generators at Prairie Island are among the oldest remaining in service in the world demonstrating the outstanding operation and maintenance of them over their life cycle.