Tritium levels soar in VY test well

Brattleboro Reformer

VERNON -- The state Department of Health announced Saturday that water tested in a well near the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor contained so much tritium that it approached that of reactor process water.
It was the most radioactive water tested since the company announced one month ago that contaminated water was leaking into the environment.
The water tested Saturday measured 2.45 million picocuries a liter of tritium.
Reactor water typically measures 2.9 million picocuries of tritium Department of Health Communication Director Nancy Erikson said in a statement released this weekend.
The highly concentrated water was found in a new well near the advanced off gas system of the Vernon nuclear power plant.
The water tested Saturday was about three times the concentration measured in a nearby well on Friday.
Erikson said the new well was drilled near a drain line to inspect a concrete duct bank that encases a two-inch drain pipe. It is also near two buried pipes that carry reactor process water.
Vermont Health Commissioner Wendy Davis said the state was following the situation closely.
She promised to supply updates regarding any significant developments.
The highly concentrated water will require Yankee officials to excavate the area near the pipes "as soon as preparations for safe and effective work allow," Erikson said in the statement.
New Hampshire Congressman Paul Hodes is scheduled to travel to the Vermont Yankee
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power plant in Vernon and inspect safety procedures.
Hodes will be at the plant today to inspect safety measures and announce a new federal proposal that will empower New Hampshire with greater oversight over the plant's safety inspections.
All of the pipes will have to be visually inspected for leaks to identify if one or more a source of the groundwater contamination.
"The concentrations of tritium measured today and yesterday indicate there are one or more sources that are leaking highly contaminated water into the ground," according to Erikson.
Entergy Nuclear spokesman Robert Williams said company engineers will be checking underground equipment that is used to transport water containing tritium from the off gas building to other plant buildings.
The off gas system processes gases from the plant's condenser.
Williams said there have not been any elevated tritium levels found in any drinking water well samples inside or outside the plant property, or at any location outside the property.
Samples taken from the Connecticut River also have yet to show any elevated levels of tritium.
"Vermont Yankee engineers and technicians working diligently to identify the source of tritium in the plant's groundwater continue to make progress," Williams said in a press release sent out late Saturday.
Howard Weiss-Tisman can be reached at [email protected] or 802-254-2311, ext. 279.