Through our extensive environmental program we found this water, reported it and are making the necessary repairs. At no time has there been a threat to employee or public health or safety.
Environmental experts at Oyster Creek Generating Station have found and stopped two small leaks in underground pipes believed to be a main source of tritiated water found in April 2009 in a concrete vault on plant property.
Station experts are inspecting other underground pipes and a water storage tank nearby as an added measure.
The pipes have been replaced. The presence of tritium outside the pipes was discovered April 17 during routine environmental testing on plant property. Station environmental experts found the highest levels of tritium - about six million picocuries per liter - in new monitoring wells near a 10-foot by 30-foot area within the station’s secure zone where the two pipes are located. The same monitoring wells showed no detectable tritium when sampled in March.
Daily samples of water from the plant’s intake and discharge canals have shown no detectable levels of tritium.
Tritium is a weak radioactive isotope of hydrogen that is produced naturally in the upper atmosphere and is found in virtually all surface water. Tritium is produced in higher concentrations in nuclear reactors and is typically discharged into the environment under strict federal guidelines. Concentrations are typically measured in picocuries, which is one trillionth of a curie.
For more information, please contact Oyster Creek Communications Manager David Benson at 609-339-9188.