An investigation reveals that 75% of US nuclear plants are leaking radioactive tritium into the environment and US drinking water supplies being detected at levels up to 750 times legal limits.
Leaks of radioactive tritium have been detected from 48 of the 65 nuclear power plants, with 37 of those sites leaking at levels exceeding federal drinking water standards by hundreds of times. The EPA says even exceeding these levels by hundreds of times there is no cause for concern or threat to public health. Then why do we have regulations if exceeding them by hundreds of times is no threat to human health?
It is also reported that the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant here in NJ is leaking radiation directly into the aquifer that feeds the drinking water in surrounding towns. To of Oyster creek is Toms River which known as known locally as “cancer alley” due to the unexplained high rate of cancers in the area.
TPM reports:
AP: U.S. Nuke Sites Leaking Radioactive Form Of Hydrogen
An Associated Press investigation has found that tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, has leaked from three-quarters of U.S. commercial nuclear power sites.
The tritium often leaked into groundwater from “corroded, buried piping,” and in most cases concentrations exceeded the federal drinking water standard. But none of the leaks are known to have reached public water supplies themselves.
Any exposure to radioactivity, no matter how slight, boosts cancer risk, according to the National Academy of Sciences. Federal regulators set a limit for how much tritium is allowed in drinking water. So far, federal and industry officials say, the tritium leaks pose no health threat.But it’s hard to know how far some leaks have traveled into groundwater. Tritium moves through soil quickly, and when it is detected it often indicates the presence of more powerful radioactive isotopes that are often spilled at the same time.
[...]
Press TV reports:
Tritium leaks from US nuclear sites
Radioactive tritium has leaked from at least 48 of 65 sites of commercial nuclear power sites in the United States, investigations have shown.According to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission records, tritium — a radioactive form of hydrogen — has leaked through corroded pipes into the ground and that the number and severity of the leaks are escalating, The Washington Post reported.
Leaks from at least 37 of those facilities contained tritium concentrations which sometimes exceeded the federal drinking water standard at hundreds of times.
At three sites — two in Illinois and one in Minnesota — leaks have contaminated drinking wells near homes, but have not reached levels violating the drinking water standard.
At a fourth site, in New Jersey, tritium has leaked into an aquifer and a discharge canal feeding picturesque Barnegat Bay off the Atlantic Ocean.
There have also been numerous reports of tritium leaks into the surface waters across the US over the past years.
[...]Tritium moves through soil quickly and when detected, it often indicates the presence of more powerful radioactive isotopes that are often spilled at the same time.
Gizmodo Adds:
Nearly 50 U.S. Nuclear Power Plants Are Leaking Radioactive Tritium
Somewhere around 75 percent of U.S. nuclear power plants have been found leaking the radioactive element Tritium into the ground to various extents. Corroded piping buried underground seems to be the main problem, and a problem that can affect groundwater if ignored.
[...]
And despite the fact that some plants have had contaminated groundwater 750 times over the radioactive limit, nuclear energy authorities claim the issue will have no impact on public health.
“The public health and safety impact of this is next to zero,” said Tony Pietrangelo, chief nuclear officer of the industry’s Nuclear Energy Institute. “This is a public confidence issue.”
And while that may be true, I think most of us would still rather not have that stuff moving through the environment. [AP]
Source: Investigation: 3 out of 4 US Nuke Plants Leaking Radiation Into Drinking Water Up To 750 Times Legal Limits ©
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