Regulators: No Danger from Indian Point Water Leak

February 20, 2009
The Associated Press

A water leak containing a tiny amount of a radioactive element at
the Indian Point nuclear power plant was discovered this week, 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 on Monday, Jim Steets, a
spokesman for plant owner Entergy Nuclear, said Thursday.
Officials tested the water Tuesday 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 by Monday 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 that 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 that the only contaminated water
leaving the site was leaking into the Hudson River, where the dilution
rendered it harmless.