Prairie Island nuclear plant relicensing
April 24th, 2008
Still no license renewal application for the Prairie Island nuclear plant.
I’m on the way to the Post Office to check the P.O. Box…
Xcel, NMC won’t cough up nuclear application
April 22nd, 2008
Here’s Queen Kenya relaxing with the Prairie Island reactors in the background.
WTF is with these guys? Can you believe it? I’ve spent a week now trying to get a copy of the application — the application for relicensing of Prairie island Nuclear Generating Plant. The company sends out a press release (CLICK HERE) and gets media coverage, I heard about it via STrib and MPR, and have been trying to get the application ever since.
Xcel’s Prairie Island page with nada about relicensing, not a single link
Why do I want the application? Oh, just to check it out and see if there’s anything interesting. Like I need more on the bursting nuclear shelf in my office… but it’s here in Red Wing and I really should know what’s going on.
Oh, silly me, when I asked, I expected it would be like all the others. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO… first they resist, then I get word from both Chris Clark, King Grand Pooh-Bah Esq. at Xcel; and from Mike Wadley, Chief Broom-pusher, Plant Manager, and VP of All Things Prairie Island, that they were on it.
…. sigh… here’s what I got an hour ago:
Dear Ms. Overland:
I understand that you are interested in reviewing the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant’s license renewal application. We have verified with the Red Wing Public Library, 225 East Avenue, Red Wing, that a copy of the document is available at the library for pubic review.
Thank you,
Kelli Huxford
Communications Consultant
Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant
651-388-1121, ext. 4967
Nuclear Energy—Safe, Clean, Reliable, Affordable
Ummmmm… I don’t think so…
My reply to poor Ms. Huxford, who I’ve not dealt with before, copied to the world:
It’s unfortunate that they put you in the position of being the courier, but once more, with feeling, I am not interested in “reviewing” the application at the Red Wing library.
I want a hard copy of the application that I can write in and put post-its on and write about.
I think I’ve been very clear about this in my numerous communications with NMC, Xcel and the NRC.In numerous proceedings I’ve represented clients and been personally involved in state and federal administrative, legislative, media and court proceedings opposing Xcel projects (and in the Mesaba case working with Xcel), and historically, Xcel routinely produces applications for interested parties. Xcel’s and NMC’s resistance to producing a copy of this application is making me wonder if I should take on Prairie Island relicensing as a personal project.
If it helps, I’ll come out to the plant and pick it up, as I did with the SW Minnesota transmission study.
I look forward to having one in my hands SOON. Mike Wadley knows well where I live and can drop one off on the way to today’s powerlunch! The porch is open.
This is absurd to take a week to get this out. There’s no legitimate excuse for this. I’m losing my patience.
xoxoxoxoxox,
Carol
What is going on here? Whatever are they thinking?
Wadley, Site VP, Prairie Island NGP to rescue???
April 20th, 2008
Seems Mike Wadley, Site V.P. at Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, heard the squeaky wheel, joined now by several other squeaky wheels, and will dig around and find out what’s up with the Prairie Island relicensing applications. Sounds like one is at the Red Wing library. I’m holding out for a hard copy, as I told him, I think I deserve on, each of the 4-5 volumes in a gold plated binder. We’ll see…
Northfield’s Book Sale starts on Tuesday!
April 20th, 2008
From the Northfield Hospital Auxiliary’s site:
This Northfield book sale is the book sale of book sales, not to be missed, the mother of all book sales. Even when utterly destitute, it’s the one sale I really try to get to. Well, it’s not a Grateful Dead show, but there’s nothing like it, a hockey rink full of used books, and even some good electrical tomes!
Gov’s Greenhouse Gasbags Report
April 19th, 2008
When I look at the Green Chameleon Gov’s Greenhouse Gasbags’ Report, words fail me, good thing… we don’t need more CO2. But it’s so absurd, the assumptions are so bizarre, counterintuitive, where do I even begin? I think I’ll just post it first until I find the words. But that itself is a problem, because they have it all divided up, compartmentalized as it were, and it’s hard to get the whole thing. So I downloaded them and combined into the Report and the Appendices, while downloading I had the pleasure of watching a doe feeding just up the bluff, about 35 feet up from my door. Anyway, here we go:
From their site:
Public Comments – The deadline for public comment is midnight Sunday, April 27, 2008.
The link to the online form for submitting comments is:
www.commerce.state.mn.us/ClimateChangeResponse.html
The form is weird because it’s the only way I see to be able to comment, there are no email addresses… GRRRRRRRR… and they say: “You will need to fill-in and submit one web-based comment form for each policy option on which you are commenting.” And it seems that ONLY these web-form submitted comments will become part of the bigger report: “All comments submitted through the website will become part of the final report to the Governor and legislature after April 27th, 2008.”
So I’d recommending cutting and pasting into the form, keeping the comments in their entirety in another document, and then send separately to our agency buddies, just for giggles:
Now, why would I think this Gasbag report is a load o’ crap? Try this:
The generation performance standard (GPS) is a mandate that requires entities that deliver electricity to acquire electricity or power plant developers to build and operate new base-load generation, with a per-unit emission rate below 1,100 pounds of CO2 per megawatt-hour (MWh). For base-load projects that are part of a combined-heat-and-power project, the GPS would be raised to 1,300 pounds of CO2/MWh. By MCCAG vote, the two proposed new coal stations for meeting Minnesota base-load demand—Big Stone 2 and Mesaba—were exempted from the GPS. At its final meeting, MCCAG decided that this policy required further study.
Gasbag Report, Ch. 4, p. 5, para. ES-1. “MCCAG vote, the two proposed new coal stations for meeting Minnesota base-load demand—Big Stone 2 and Mesaba—were exempted from the GPS.” Excuuuuuse me, but how will exemption of 10 million new, NEW, tons of CO2 annually do anything but put us back, worse off then before we started? The gall, the audacity, whatever are they thinking? show me how they’ll make up that 10 million tons much less have any net decrease? What’s the point.
Oh, and here it is again, in the Executive Summary, p. EX 10:
All totals are relative to the underlying assumption that electricity expansion in Minnesota proceeds with the recently legislated Conservation Improvement Program (CIP), Renewable Energy Standard (RES), and all planned additions including the Mesaba and Big Stone 2 stations.
And we’re supposed to take the time to evaluate this piece o’ crap? How can they put something like this out into the world?
