Inside Monticello, a maze of pipes and cables connect hulking steel hardware in a complex system that harnesses heat from nuclear fission to create steam, which then spins a giant turbine. A recent radioactive water leak at Monticello did not threaten public safety, regulators say, but it was an embarrassing gaffe for Xcel. Regulatory records indicate Xcel has been largely free of substantial nuclear safety lapses, though there have been miscues. Xcel expects to do the same for its two Prairie Island reactors. Xcel applied earlier this year to the NRC to extend Monticello's license for another 20 years after it expires in 2030. nuclear plants were originally licensed for 40 years, then relicensed for another 20. And they are the only type of power plant where visitors are greeted by guards toting automatic rifles. They employ far more people than conventional or renewable power plants - Monticello has about 700 workers. Xcel's reactors generate more than 20% of Minnesota's electricity. The energy from the nuclear plants also would be hard to replace. Nuclear power "will be key to reach the state's new goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2040," Clark said, referring to a new Minnesota law requiring utilities to cut carbon emissions. They also can provide constant electricity, unlike wind or solar farms. They don't emit carbon dioxide like coal or gas power plants. Xcel's reactors - and much of the nation's nuclear fleet - have become strategically more important, despite the industry's intractable problem of toxic radioactive waste. "They can be operated for another 20 years." "We - and the industry - believe these plants have been well maintained and well invested in," said Christopher Clark, Xcel's Minnesota president. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) relicensed the facilities. Xcel has spent $2 billion maintaining the Monticello and Prairie Island plants since the early 2000s, the last time U.S. "It really depends on the life history of the specific plant and the way it has been managed," said Edwin Lyman, a nuclear power expert at Union of Concerned Scientists.
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