Vermont Yankee Groundwater Test Positive for Tritium

With a sneezing and wheezing the calliope crashed to the ground …



Around the same time today Entergy Vermont Yankee officials dealt with the news that their aging plant’s monitoring wells had tested positive for tritium (a radioactive isotope)Vermont Governor Douglas was urging the legislature to vote to extend the operating license and allow regulatory boards to handle the issue.
Today’s evidence of tritium in monitoring wells and an alarm caused by the oil level in a pump used to control the power level in the reactor come on the heels of Vermont Yankee new feel good about nukes PR blitz called I am Vermont Yankee

Reports say The problem at the 38-year-old reactor is similar to those cropping up at nuclear plants around the country, with the discovery of a radioactive isotope called tritium in a monitoring well.
Both Spokesman Rob Williams and William Irwin, radiological health chief for the Vermont Department of Health, said there was no threat to the public health and safety from the level of tritium reported. They said the 17,000 picocuries of radioactivity per liter of water measured at Vermont Yankee was 3,000 less than the 20,000 picocurie safety limit set for drinking water by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

But Arnold Gundersen, a former nuclear industry engineer who has consulted with the Legislature on issues related to Vermont Yankee, on Thursday called the discovery of tritium on the plant site "a big deal."

"It's a sign that there's a pipe or a tank leaking somewhere" at the plant, Gundersen said. "It's highly unlikely that the highest concentration in the ground would happen to be at the monitoring well," he added.

This is a problem with older plants and its effect the cost of decommissioning could be significant.For a much more thorough run down of all things Yankee and tritium leaks in general Green Mountain Daily's Maggie Gunderson has more more.
Link here New Tritium Leak at Vermont Yankee