LOCATIONS

Prairie Island is in excellent material condition and has a sustained history of world-class upper quartile performance for nuclear plants operated for more than 20 years. In 1996, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) rated it among the best performing U.S. nuclear plant in two of three benchmarking studies.

Prairie Island received the 1998 Westinghouse "American Beauty" award as one of top 10 most cost-effective plants in the U.S. over the previous three years. In 1998, Prairie Island received the highest performance rating of "excellent" from the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) and the World Association of Nuclear Operators. This marks the seventh consecutive INPO rating of "excellent" in the past 10 years. The INPO index combines safety, reliability and plant performance indicators. In 2000 combined unit availability and capacity was 93 and 95 percent, respectively.

Specifications
Location: Welch, Minn. (28 miles southeast of Twin Cities)
Generation: Two units - 1,100 Mw total
Reactor type: Pressurized water
Date of commercial operation: Unit 1-Dec. 4, 1973 Unit 2-Dec. 21, 1974
Ownership: Northern States Power Co., a subsidiary of Xcel Energy Inc.
NMC status: NMC assumed operating authority from the owner in August 2000

Addresses
Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant
1717 Wakonade Drive East
Welch, Minn. 55089-9642

NMC Prairie Island Training Center
1660 Wakonade Dr. West
Welch, MN 55089