Xcel Energy 2015 Annual Report Download - page 30
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Nuclear Spent Fuel Storage
NSP-Minnesota has interim on-site storage for spent nuclear fuel at its Monticello and PI nuclear generating plants. As of Dec. 31,
2015, there were 40 casks loaded and stored at the PI plant and 15 canisters loaded and stored at the Monticello plant. An additional
24 casks for PI and 15 canisters for Monticello have been authorized by the State of Minnesota. This currently authorized storage
capacity is sufficient to allow NSP-Minnesota to operate until the end of the operating licenses in 2030 for Monticello, 2033 for PI
Unit 1, and 2034 for PI Unit 2. Authorizations for additional spent fuel storage capacity may be required at each site to support either
continued operation or decommissioning if the federal government does not begin operation of a consolidated interim storage
installation.
Nuclear Waste Disposal Litigation — In 1998, NSP-Minnesota filed a complaint in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims against the
United States requesting breach of contract damages for the DOE’s failure to begin accepting spent nuclear fuel by Jan. 31, 1998, as
required by the contracts between the United States and NSP-Minnesota. NSP-Minnesota sought contract damages in this lawsuit
through 2004. In September 2007, the Court awarded NSP-Minnesota $116.5 million in damages through 2004. In August 2007,
NSP-Minnesota filed a second complaint; this lawsuit claimed damages for 2005 through 2008.
In July 2011, the United States and NSP-Minnesota executed a settlement agreement resolving both lawsuits, providing an initial $100
million payment from the United States to NSP-Minnesota, and providing a method by which NSP-Minnesota can recover its spent
fuel storage costs through 2013. In January 2014, the United States and NSP-Minnesota agreed to an extension to the settlement
agreement which will allow recovery of spent fuel storage costs through 2016. The extension does not address costs for spent fuel
storage after 2016; such costs could be the subject of future litigation. In November 2015, NSP-Minnesota received a settlement
payment of $13.1 million. NSP-Minnesota has received a total of $227.8 million of settlement proceeds as of Dec. 31, 2015. Amounts
received from the installments are being returned to customers through ratemaking proceedings as determined by the MPUC and other
state regulators.
NRC Waste Confidence Decision (WCD) — In September 2014, the NRC published a Generic Environmental Impact Statement
(GEIS) and revised WCD rule, now called the Continued Storage Rule (CSR) on the temporary on-site storage of spent nuclear fuel.
The CSR assesses how long temporary on-site storage can remain safe and when facilities for the disposal of nuclear waste will
become available. Issuance of the CSR now allows the NRC to proceed with final license decisions regarding the new and renewed
plant and Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) operating licenses without the need to litigate contentions related to the
continued storage of spent nuclear fuel on-site. This may facilitate potential future spent fuel licensing needs for NSP-Minnesota.
The CSR is currently being challenged before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (D.C. Circuit) on the grounds that the
environmental impact statement is inadequate to satisfy the National Environmental Policy Act. A decision by the D.C. Circuit is
anticipated later in 2016.
PI ISFSI License Renewal — The current license to operate an ISFSI at PI expired in October 2013. The NRC granted a renewed
license for the ISFSI at PI in December 2015. The new expiration date of the renewed license is Oct. 31, 2053.
See Note 14 to the consolidated financial statements for further discussion regarding nuclear related items.
Energy Source Statistics
Year Ended Dec. 31
2015 2014 2013
NSP System Millions of
KWh Percent of
Generation Millions of
KWh Percent of
Generation Millions of
KWh Percent of
Generation
Coal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,961 35% 18,079 39% 15,844 36%
Nuclear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,425 27 13,434 29 12,161 28
Natural Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,689 15 3,402 7 5,550 13
Wind (a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,235 14 6,243 14 5,481 13
Hydroelectric. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,326 7 3,560 8 3,223 7
Other (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,083 2 1,417 3 1,323 3
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,719 100% 46,135 100% 43,582 100%
Owned generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,818 74% 33,641 73% 29,249 67%
Purchased generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,901 26 12,494 27 14,333 33
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,719 100% 46,135 100% 43,582 100%
(a) This category includes wind energy de-bundled from RECs and also includes Windsource® RECs. The NSP System uses RECs to meet or exceed state resource
requirements and may sell surplus RECs.
(b) Includes energy from other sources, including solar, biomass, oil and refuse. Distributed generation from the Solar*Rewards program is not included, and was
approximately eight, seven, and eight million net KWh for 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively.