Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, has been detected in a water leak at the site of the Monticello power plant, near Minneapolis.
The company Xcel Energy announced Thursday that it had detected and treated a leak of water contaminated with tritium – a radioactive isotope of hydrogen – in a nuclear power plant in the north of the United States in November, specifying that it represented “no risk” for the inhabitants and the environment.
The leak was confined “to the plant site” of Monticello, near Minneapolisand the contaminated water “was not detected outside of the facilities or in local drinking water,” Xcel Energy explained. in a press release.
The situation “does not represent a risk to the safety and health of the local population or the environment”, added the company.
Discovered last November
This leak was confirmed on November 22, said Xcel Energy, claiming to have immediately notified the American Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the State of Minnesota, where the plant is located.
Local officials are “monitoring Xcel Energy’s efforts to clean up” this water release, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) said in a separate statement.
“The leak has been stopped and has not reached the Mississippi River or contaminated drinking water sources,” she added.
Only 25% of released tritium recovered
Chris Clark, an official with Xcel Energy, said the company continues to “collect and treat potentially affected water, while regularly monitoring nearby groundwater sources.”
Xcel Energy estimates that it has so far recovered approximately 25% of the tritium released. The leak came “from a pipe running between two buildings”, she said.
In 1971, a water reservoir at the Monticello plant overflowed, releasing 190 cubic meters of contaminated water from the nearby Mississippi. The city of Saint-Paul’s water supply system had been affected.
