Nuclear Power Plants in Minnesota and around the world
The Japan earthquake/tsunami and the resulting crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant brought much attention to the dangers of nuclear power plants. I wondered how many nuclear power plants we have in Minnesota, in the US and around the world.
According to the World Nuclear Association, the United States has 104 nuclear reactors in 31 states, operated by 30 different power companies, and the world has 440 commercial nuclear power reactors. Here are some facts from the World Nuclear Association.
- The USA is the world’s largest producer of nuclear power, accounting for more than 30% of worldwide nuclear generation of electricity.
- The country’s 104 nuclear reactors produced 799 billion kWh in 2009, over 20% of total electrical output.
- Following a 30-year period in which few new reactors were built, it is expected that 4-6 new units may come on line by 2018, the first of those resulting from 16 licence applications to build 24 new nuclear reactors made since mid-2007.
- Government policy changes since the late 1990s have helped pave the way for significant growth in nuclear capacity. Government and industry are working closely on expedited approval for construction and new plant designs.
- The first commercial nuclear power stations started operation in the 1950s.
- There are now over 440 commercial nuclear power reactors operating in 30 countries, with 377,000 MWe of total capacity.
- They provide about 14% of the world’s electricity as continuous, reliable base-load power, and their efficiency is increasing.
- 56 countries operate a total of about 250 research reactors and a further 180 nuclear reactors power some 140 ships and submarines.
Here’s a list of all the nuclear reactors of the world, sorted by country.
Minnesota has two nuclear power plants, both are in Southern Minnesota along the Mississippi River: the Prairie Island Nuclear Plant in Welch (near Red Wing) and the Monticello Nuclear plant in Monticello. Both are owned by Xcel Energy.
Woodbury is about 50 miles away from Red Wing. It feels like a nuclear plant is right in my backyard. And it’s an unsettling feeling.
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don’t really know why i comment on this website. guess it’s just perversity. or perhaps simply becauxse my attention is drawn to it each day when i check out astrobob’s site (which i find really interesting). anyway, regarding CB’s comment. wonder how much she is willing to pay for her utilities if and when we start diverting substantial resources to solar, wind, etc., energy sources that probably couldn’t produce energy as cheaply and in the quantities that we now take for granted. i suggest that she do a little homework before she makes claims like those that she just posted. and climate change and the increased frequency of natural disasters? yes, there is some warming, especially in the higher latitudes. the cause and the implications of such warming are, however, much in dispute. and, of course, we must jump to the conclusion that natural disasters are on the increase. don’t think so: any knowledge of the history of such events for the last several thousand yrs or so should disabuse anyone of that notion. ‘fraid we are seeing more ideology than rationality, critical thinking these days.
Radioactive waste is very dangerous, and with climate change, more natural disasters, and the chance of explosions when natural disasters are getting worse, not less, this is very scary. Even though I think nuclear is better than coal by alot! The US needs to start investing more of our energy coming from solar and wind. Geothermal where we can. It has to start by communities telling their local governments to put stronger penalties for utility companies who don’t invest at least a quarter of their electrical sourcing coming from renewable businesses. While we still have the rights to say what developments go into our communities…although under the stupid environmental review bill that just got signed by Dayton, saying that all Minnesotans must now contest only at the capitol (St. Paul), WE NEED TO ACT! If you don’t have the time, give your money to Clean Water Action, and other environmental groups in your state folks who fight to protect our health and environment.
I have been a resident of MN all my life. I’m wondering when Monticello, MN moved to southern MN.
Monticello is just northwest of Twin Cities, so for Minnesotans, especially Twin Cities minded people, it is not considered southern MN, but on the MN map, it is toward the south.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monticello,_Minnesota
Your March 18 blog entry contained lots of facts and data, which cannot be argued. But your last sentence is meaningless. Red Wing is, as you stated fifty miles from Woodbury, nowhere near “our backyard”. So what unsettling feeling are you having? That you are going to be poisoned, radiated, burned, what?
I for one am not worried about nuclear power; in fact I’m worried that because of Minnesota state law banning the construction of new nuclear power plants for the past 17 years we are decades behind in the construction of new power plants. As we are forced to drive electric cars will we have the electric capacity to power them? Because of the disaster in Japan anybody brave enough to stand up and propose the construction of a new nuclear power plant in this state will shouted down and ridiculed.
So what does our future hold in this state? Because solar and wind cannot and will never be able to provide the base power required for it’s residents/businesses and coal is too “carbon dirty†we’ll turn to natural gas. We have a number of gas-fired power plants around the state and they provide reasonably clean electric power. But many over look the fact that because we are using more natural gas to generate electricity the natural gas to heat our homes in the winter has more than doubled. The future is very simple; colder homes, more money spent on energy, higher cost of living that means less of everything else for our families.
The survival of our way of life depends on low cost, clean and reliable energy. I have an unsettling feeling that in the not too distant future I’ll be protecting my family and property because I prepared for the coming crisis while others made sure they never missed an American Idol episode or the latest rant of Charlie Sheen.
Reread the Ant & the Grasshopper or the Scorpion & the Frog fables and tell me I’m crazy.
This is in reference to the crisis in Japan. In a crisis like this, 50 miles would feel like very close, as in the backyard. Many people don’t even feel comfortable living in Tokyo right now, which is 155 miles away from the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima.
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