Monticello nuclear plant ready to move spent fuel
MINNESOTA - Months of planning at the Monticello nuclear plant will be put into practice soon when spent nuclear fuel is moved to a new storage facility.
Radioactive fuel rods will be moved in a process designed for safety and security from inside the plant to the above-ground storage.
The casks will go into concrete storage modules. The storage area is surrounded by two chain-link fences and monitored by cameras and other security devices.
Moving the spent fuel will free space in the plant's interior cooling pool, which will allow Xcel Energy to continue operating the plant for another 30 years. Project manager Mark McKeown says the first storage module will be loaded sometime between August and October.
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Almost 500-mile-long lightning bolt crossed three US states
NEW YORK - An almost 500-mile long bolt of lightning that lit up the sky across three US states has set a new world record for longest flash, scientists have confirmed.
The lightning bolt, extended a total of 477.2 miles (768 km) and spread across Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.
The previous record was 440.6 miles (709 km) and recorded in Brazil in 2018.
Lightning rarely extends over 10 miles and usually lasts under a second.
Another lightning flash recorded in 2020 - in Uruguay and Argentina - has also set a new record for duration at 17.1 seconds. The previous record was 16.7 seconds.
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