February 2009

U.S. Water News Online

BUCHANAN, N.Y. — A water leak containing a tiny amount of a radioactive element at the Indian Point nuclear power plant was discovered recently, but it doesn't pose any danger to drinking water, regulators said.

Officials at the plant about 35 miles north of midtown Manhattan discovered an 8-inch pipe leaking underground, Jim Steets, a spokesman for plant owner Entergy Nuclear, said.

Officials tested the water and determined it was coming from a non-radioactive secondary cooling system, he said.

The water contains radioactive tritium, but levels are less than one-tenth of what's permissible in drinking water, Steets said. Repairs should be completed readily and probably won't require the plant to be closed, he said.

The leak poses no danger to the public, Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokeswoman Diane Screnci said. NRC inspectors are at the plant, monitoring the situation, she said.

In recent years, small amounts of tritium have been discovered leaking at the plant, including in a closed-pipe sewage system.

Several years ago, Entergy discovered the groundwater beneath two reactors was contaminated with tritium and the more dangerous strontium-90. Officials have been searching for the source ever since.

The company had said then the only contaminated water leaving the site was leaking into the Hudson River, where the dilution rendered it harmless.

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