FILE - People walk on a trail at the Montissippi County Park near the Xcel Energy Monticello Generating Plant, a nuclear power plant, in Monticello, Minn., March 24, 2023. Xcel Energy, the energy company responsible for leaking radioactive material from its nuclear plant in Monticello, in recent months has announced that it will build an underground metal barrier to keep affected groundwater away from the nearby Mississippi River. (Renee Jones Schneider/Star Tribune via AP, File)The energy company responsible for leaking radioactive material from its nuclear plant in Monticello, Minnesota, in recent months has announced that it will build an underground metal barrier to keep affected groundwater away from the nearby Mississippi River. Xcel Energy said construction will last several weeks and should begin between Friday and Monday, according to a statement posted on the city of Monticello’s website Thursday. In the water adjacent to the Mississippi River, the highest tritium level was 1,000 picocuries per liter, which is safe enough to drink.
