MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — A faulty pipe that allowed water containing a radioactive isotope of hydrogen to leak at aplant has been repaired and the plant will return to service in the next week, a spokesman for the energy company said Tuesday.
The nuclear plant, about 38 miles northwest of Minneapolis, was fully powered down around 7 a.m. Saturday to fix the leaky pipe discovered last week, Xcel Energy spokesman Theo Keith said. The plant will return to service “in the next week,” Keith said, but will temporarily close in mid-April for an annual maintenance project.that allowed 400,000 gallons of water containing tritium into the river. There was a monthslong delay in announcing the initial leak that raised questions about public safety and transparency, but industry experts said there was never a public health threat.
Last week, the new leak was found coming from a temporary repair to the original leak, the company said. Chris Clark, president of Xcel Energy–Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, said the new leak also posed no risk to the public or the environment.