Budapest, Hungary
EDIS No: NC-20090912-23135-USA12/09/2009 - 03:26:04
Small amounts of a radioactive isotope have been detected in a new monitoring well at Xcel Energy's Monticello nuclear power plant. But the levels of tritium, a mildly radioactive type of hydrogen, are within federal guidelines and don't represent a threat to the public, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokeswoman said. "It's well below (Environmental Protection Agency) drinking-water limits ... and it's contained on-site,'' Prema Chandrathil said. Xcel said it confirmed the discovery earlier this week and notified the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Department of Emergency Management on Thursday that the amounts exceeded the plant's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit. It also filed a report Thursday with the NRC. Xcel said the samples came from a recently dug monitoring well near the reactor building.
It said no elevated levels were found in other monitoring wells at the plant, located along the Mississippi River about 40 miles northwest of the Twin Cities, and there are no indications the release goes beyond the site. The utility said it is looking for the source of the tritium. "The concentration of tritium is below any radiological reporting levels established in station procedures,'' Xcel said in its report to the NRC. Tritium, which occurs naturally and is produced in nuclear reactors, also can be found in self-luminescent devices, such as exit signs in buildings, aircraft dials, gauges, luminous paints and wristwatches. The NRC said water containing tritium and other radioactive substances is normally released from nuclear plants under controlled conditions. Operations at the Monticello plant were not interrupted.
It said no elevated levels were found in other monitoring wells at the plant, located along the Mississippi River about 40 miles northwest of the Twin Cities, and there are no indications the release goes beyond the site. The utility said it is looking for the source of the tritium. "The concentration of tritium is below any radiological reporting levels established in station procedures,'' Xcel said in its report to the NRC. Tritium, which occurs naturally and is produced in nuclear reactors, also can be found in self-luminescent devices, such as exit signs in buildings, aircraft dials, gauges, luminous paints and wristwatches. The NRC said water containing tritium and other radioactive substances is normally released from nuclear plants under controlled conditions. Operations at the Monticello plant were not interrupted.
