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Prairie Island 1 - Plant Information & Status

Technical specifications, contact data, ratings, and licensing history for the Prairie Island facility.

Ratings 42 votes

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Community ratings from NukeWorker members. Vote to share your experience working at this facility. Results show the breakdown of Above Average, Average, and Below Average ratings.

Capacity Factor (365-Day)

100%
Current
97.2%
365-Day Avg
#54
of 94 plants
Min: 0% Max: 100% 12 days <80%

Scram History 5 events since 2011

5
Total
3
Automatic
2
Manual
1
Avg Recovery (days)
Recent Events
2025-07-15 Auto AUTOMATIC REACTOR TRIP The following information was provide...
2023-10-18 Auto AUTOMATIC REACTOR TRIP The following information was provide...
2020-08-25 Auto AUTOMATIC REACTOR TRIP DUE TO FLUX RATE "At 1319 CDT, on Aug...
2015-05-30 Manual MANUAL REACTOR TRIP DUE TO TRIP OF CONDENSATE AND MAIN FEEDW...
2011-06-30 Manual UNIT 1 MANUAL TRIP DUE TO ELECTRO-HYDRAULIC CONTROL FLUID LE...

Performance Charts

Outage Duration Trend

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Scheduled refueling outage durations over time. Green bars are below average, yellow near average, red above. Dashed line shows the plant's historical average. Shorter outages mean better execution.

Power History (12-Month)

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Daily power output as a percentage of rated capacity over the past 365 days. Green segments indicate full power (90%+), yellow shows reduced output, and red indicates significant power reductions or shutdowns.

Outage Timeline

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Visual timeline of all recorded outages. Blue bars are scheduled refueling outages, red bars are forced/unplanned outages. Width represents outage duration. Hover for details.

Facility Statistics

Lifecycle & Tenure
Operating Age: 52.3 Yrs
Build Time: 5.5 Yrs
Lic. Remaining: 7.3 Yrs
Production & Power
Lifetime CF: 88.6%
Efficiency: 31.1%
Generated: 110.2 TWh
Reliability & Outages
Record Run: 732 Days
Refuelings: 15

Ownership & Construction

Owner/Operator: Xcel Energy
Architect Engineer: FLUR
Constructor: NSP

Technical Specs

Reactor Type: PWR
Containment: PWR-DRYAMB
NSS Supplier: WEST 2LP
Thermal Power: 1677 MWt
Net Capacity: 521 MWe
Efficiency: 31.1%
Status: Operating

Licensing

Docket #: 05000282
License #: DPR-42
License Type: OL-FP
Const. Permit: 1968-06-25
Operating Lic: 1974-04-05
Commercial Op: 1973-12-16
License Renewed: 2011-06-27
License Exp: 2033-08-09

Facility Map

44.622, -92.6331

Location & Contact

Address:
1717 Wakonade Drive East
Welch, MN 55089, USA
Get Directions
Phone: (612) 388-1121

Breaker-to-Breaker Runs 7 runs

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Breaker-to-breaker runs measure continuous operation between refueling outages (470+ days). An active streak means the unit has been running continuously since the last refueling. Longer runs indicate better reliability.
731
Best Run (days)
2020-10-14 → 2022-10-15
590
Avg Run (days)
All Runs
2020-10-14 2022-10-15 731 days
2016-11-21 2018-09-22 670 days
2015-06-04 2016-10-16 500 days
2013-01-03 2014-10-08 643 days
2009-11-24 2011-04-30 522 days
2003-04-21 2004-09-11 509 days
1999-05-28 2000-12-02 554 days