May 1 - Paris headquartered industrial manufacturer Areva has delivered two steam generators to the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant in Red Wing, Minnesota, USA.
The two generators each measured 21 m in height and weighed over 330 tonnes. Areva manufactured both units at its Chalon/Saint-Marcel facility, France.
According to Areva, the shipment was barged south to the Mediterranean Sea before travelling across the Atlantic Ocean and then up the Mississippi river.
The nuclear power plant will be owned and operated by Xcel Energy. The new generators will be stored on site until their installation in autumn 2013, during a planned refuelling outage.
"The investments we are making at Prairie Island will keep it operating safely and reliably for the next 20 years," said Tim O'Connor, Xcel Energy senior vice president and chief nuclear officer.
