"The Prairie Island Indian Community is asking the federal government to respond to its long-running concerns about nuclear waste stored near the Prairie Island power plant.

Members of the tribal group say more safety measures are needed, especially because the waste, stored in casks on a concrete pad, could be there for decades. The request follows a recent court ruling saying the current rules on waste storage are inadequate. Members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will take up the issue today in St. Paul.

Some members of the Prairie Island Indian Community live just a couple of blocks from the twin reactors of Xcel Energy's nuclear power plant on the Mississippi River in Goodhue County. For years, they've been uneasy about the nuclear waste stored in 29 casks lined up behind an earthen berm next to the plant. The spent fuel bundles once provided the energy to produce electricity for 750,000 homes in the region; today the bundles are not useable but still radioactive."

Get the Story:
Hearing today for Prairie Island concerns about nuclear waste storage (Minnesota Public Radio 11/8)

DC Circuit Decision:
New York v. NRC (June 8, 2012)

Related Stories:
Prairie Island Indian Community signs MOU for nuclear facility (10/16)
Prairie Island Indian Community raises nuclear waste concerns (9/4)
Prairie Island Indian Community concerned about nuclear plant (8/15)
Editorial: Nuclear waste storage problem deserves a new solution (7/5)
Prairie Island Indian Community wins a ruling on nuclear waste (6/11)
Editorial: Prairie Island Tribe lives in shadow of nuclear threat (1/12)