Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com

Published - Tuesday, August 05, 2008

'Unusual event' over at Prairie Island plant

RED WING, Minn. (AP) — Xcel Energy said operators at its Prairie Island nuclear plant near Red Wing have successfully reduced levels of an ammonia-like chemical in the non-nuclear side of the plant.

Xcel notified federal authorities but said the incident did not pose a threat to the public and was ranked as the lowest of four emergency classifications.

Elevated levels of hydrazine were detected at the turbine building early Sunday. The chemical is used to help reduce corrosion in piping at the plant.

The incident happened while workers were returning a unit reactor to service. The unit had shut down Thursday when a component failed during routine testing.

Ventilation was increased to clear the chemical.

Xcel said there were no injuries and no radiological release at the plant. Unit 1 now is back at full power.

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