From the Vermont Health Department online
On January 7, the Vermont Department of Health was notified by Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station that samples taken from a ground water monitoring well on site (identified as GZ-3) contained tritium.
Tritium is a radioactive form of hydrogen. It is a by-product of the nuclear fission process in a nuclear reactor, and also occurs naturally in the environment in very low concentrations.
Most tritium in the environment is in the form of tritiated water, which easily moves about in the atmosphere, bodies of water, soil and rock.
The finding of tritium in ground water signals that there has been an unintended underground release of radioactive material, and that other radioisotopes may have contaminated the environment.
Perhaps a Vermont Health Department notification of a house fire might read as follows:
Vermont Health Department Notice of Rapid Oxidation and Chemical Process of Combustion
On February 11, The Vermont Health Department was notified by local private authorities that a previously unknown section of a house was found to be on fire. Samples were taken from a monitoring portion of the site (identified as 1-SOH ,1-Side of House).
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Most rapid oxidation in the environment is in the form of fire and may easily move about. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not considered to be part of this definition.
The discovery of fire in monitoring area 1-SOH (1-side of house) signals there has been and unintended combustion process occurrence that may need further voluntary monitoring.
Vermont Officials are conducting a thorough investigation to identify the magnitude of the occurrence and the source of the combustion process .Assistance will be provided by a number of private and state agencies, a team of Rapid Oxidation Experts (ROE’S) will be on site to analyze data.
This process if unchecked has the potential to cause physical damage through burning and can occasionally result in a phase transition in the affected mass if the temperature of the flame is hot enough.
Weakly, updates will be scheduled, soon
I think you're being alarmist. That the combustion process was detected in 1-SOH only proves that the system works, and now the problem is being closely monitored. I don't see why this should interfere with the extension of the house's operation permit by another twenty years. In today's economy, who's going to want to move? Besides, combustion is a naturally occuring phenomenon and isn't harmful in small amounts. It's certainly nothing that 300 pounds of ice can't fix.
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