# NRC *U.S. federal agency; in this record, the licensing authority that renewed the license of the Monticello nuclear plant in Minnesota.* The **Nuclear Regulatory Commission** (NRC) is the federal agency whose subsequent license renewal for Monticello Unit 1 was recorded in the Federal Register on January 3, 2025, as a Record of Decision.[^1] The plant stands at [[Monticello]], Wright County, [[Minnesota]]. The project's at-issue record names the NRC in three items. The first is the notification it received from [[Xcel Energy]] on November 22, 2022, of a 400,000-gallon tritium leak at the plant.[^2][^3] The second is the 2025 license renewal.[^1] The third is a statement by an NRC health physicist at a March 2023 license-renewal hearing.[^4] Set side by side, the dated outputs run as follows. According to the at-issue record, Xcel Energy notified state regulators and the NRC on November 22, 2022, and the public was told on March 16, 2023, 114 days later.[^2] The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency fined Xcel Energy $14,000 on December 14, 2023, for unpermitted tritiated-water storage tanks at Monticello.[^5] The NRC's renewal followed on January 3, 2025.[^1] The at-issue record pairs that renewal with a May 2025 White House presidential action, *Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission*. The record describes the order's stated premise as being that the Commission's process requires structural reform.[^4] ## Who The NRC appears in the record as the federal agency that issued the Monticello Unit 1 subsequent license renewal.[^1] Xcel Energy, the plant's operator, confirmed the leak and made the November 2022 notification to the NRC and state regulators, according to the at-issue record.[^2] The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is the state agency that took final enforcement action against Xcel Energy in December 2023.[^5] The at-issue record identifies the hearing witness only as an NRC health physicist. It rests that item on a single news source.[^4] ## What The NRC's documented action in the pack is the subsequent license renewal for Monticello Unit 1.[^1] The at-issue record also places the NRC among the parties notified of the leak in November 2022.[^2] It further records that, at the [[Monticello license-renewal hearing]], an NRC health physicist called the tritium amount "negligible" and compared it to the radiation in an exit sign.[^4] ## When - **November 22, 2022**: According to the at-issue record, Xcel Energy confirmed the 400,000-gallon tritium leak and notified state regulators and the NRC.[^2] - **March 16, 2023**: The public was told of the leak, per the same record.[^2] - **March 2023**: In the week the leak became public, an NRC health physicist offered the "negligible" comparison at a hearing on extending the plant's license by twenty years, according to the at-issue record.[^4] - **December 14, 2023**: The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency fined Xcel Energy $14,000 for unpermitted tritiated-water storage tanks at Monticello.[^5] - **January 3, 2025**: The NRC's Record of Decision on the Monticello Unit 1 subsequent license renewal was published in the Federal Register.[^1] - **May 2025**: The White House issued *Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission*.[^4] ## Where The plant is at Monticello in Wright County, Minnesota.[^2] The NRC licensing action concerns Monticello Unit 1.[^1] ## How The renewal took the form of a Record of Decision published in the Federal Register.[^1] The state penalty was a final enforcement action by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.[^5] The at-issue record describes the hearing comparison as testimony given at the proceeding on the twenty-year license extension.[^4] ## How much The at-issue record gives the leak as 400,000 gallons.[^2] The state fine was $14,000, imposed on December 14, 2023, for the storage tanks rather than for the leak itself.[^5] ## How many The at-issue record counts 114 days between the November 22, 2022 notification and the March 16, 2023 public disclosure. It also states that nothing learned in that interval changed the number of gallons.[^2][^3] The renewal came about twenty-two months after the March 2023 disclosure.[^1][^4] The record names the NRC in three at-issue items.[^4] ## In the at-issue record - **Disclosure interval (2022–2023).** The item records that the operator, state regulators and the NRC held the leak figure from November 22, 2022, until the public notice of March 16, 2023.[^2] The project pairs this item with the March 2025 White House action *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos*.[^3] - **License renewal (2025).** The item records the January 3, 2025 renewal.[^1] It states that the disclosure record did not appear in the licensing outcome. The pack does not carry the text of the Record of Decision, so the record here does not establish what the decision says about the leak. The item is paired with the May 2025 order on reform of the Commission.[^4] - **Hearing statement (2023).** The item records the "negligible" comparison made at the license-renewal hearing in the week the leak became public. It rests on one news source, and it is paired with the same May 2025 order.[^4] ## Notes [^1]: Nuclear Regulatory Commission, *Monticello Unit 1 Subsequent License Renewal — Record of Decision* (Federal Register, 2025-01-03) — establishes the NRC's subsequent license renewal for Monticello Unit 1 and its publication date. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-01-03/pdf/2024-31579.pdf [^2]: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, *News and stories* (agency page) — listed with CBS News as a source domain for at-issue row W3.1 (Wright_Claims_Exposure_Matrix_2026-09-02.md). That row records the 400,000-gallon leak at Monticello, Wright County, the November 22, 2022 notification and the March 16, 2023 public disclosure. The pack does not carry the release text. https://www.pca.state.mn.us/news-and-stories [^3]: The White House, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (presidential action, March 2025) — the anchor the at-issue record pairs with the disclosure-interval item (row W3.1). It is not a source for the leak facts. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/ [^4]: The White House, *Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission* (presidential action, May 2025) — the anchor the at-issue record pairs with the renewal item (row W3.7) and the hearing-statement item (row W3, which rests on MPR News reporting not in this pack's allowed sources). https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/ordering-the-reform-of-the-nuclear-regulatory-commission/ [^5]: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, enforcement action (2023-12-14) — establishes the final $14,000 fine against Xcel Energy for unpermitted tritiated-water storage tanks at Monticello. https://www.pca.state.mn.us/news-and-stories