US nuclear power plant detected contaminated water leak in November

The company Xcel Energy announced this Thursday that it detected and treated last November a leak of water contaminated with tritium in a nuclear power plant in the north of the United States, and said that the incident does not pose any risk to residents or the environment.

The leak “was limited to the site of the plant”, in Monticello, near Minneapolis, and the contaminated water “was not detected outside the installations, nor in the local potable water”, emphasized Xcel Energy. The situation “does not pose a risk to the safety and health of the local population, or to the environment,” added the company.

Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The leak was confirmed on November 22, according to Xcel Energy, and immediately reported to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the state of Minnesota, where the plant is located.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) said its employees “supervise Xcel Energy’s efforts to clean up” the water spill, which “was stopped and did not reach the Mississippi River or drinking water sources.”

Chris Clark, an employee of Xcel Energy, said the company is continuing to “collect and treat potentially affected water, while regularly monitoring nearby groundwater sources”.

Xcel Energy estimates that it has recovered approximately 25% of the released tritium to date.