Nearby blast puts nuclear plant on temporary high alert

Workers at the Prairie Island nuclear plant were put on high alert temporarily on Sunday after a man blew up a dump truck about a mile away, authorities said.

According to Goodhue County Sheriff Dean Albers, a Welch Township man used explosives to blow up the truck on his property.

"It was quite an explosion," Albers said.

The man handed over a videotape of the blast, Albers said. As of Sunday night, he had not been arrested or charged with a crime. No one was injured.

Albers didn't know what kind of explosives the man used but said the blast was heard and felt more than a mile away at the Prairie Island nuclear plant.

Mike Wadley, site vice president of the plant, said the plant was put under heightened security from about 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. until officials could determine what had happened. He said security workers at the plant's gatehouse "heard a loud noise" and felt the station's windows rattle around 5 p.m.

The plant returned to normal activity once investigators established that the incident was not connected to the plant, he said.

--- Information from: Red Wing Republican Eagle, http://www.republican-eagle.com

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