In November 2022, 400,000 gallons of radioactive water containing tritium leaked from Minnesota’s Xcel Energy Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant.Xcel Energy informed state and federal authorities of the leak of radioactive water and the presence of tritium in it in late November. However, it was only made public on Thursday, March 16, 2023.DJ LeClear (The Rad Guy)@ThatRadGuy5Tritium leak at the #Monticello nuclear plant north of Minneapolis. Here's what we know.226Tritium leak at the #Monticello nuclear plant north of Minneapolis. Here's what we know. https://t.co/MnYIn3kB5HMinnesota regulators said that they were monitoring the cleanup of the leak. Additionally, the company Xcel Energy stated that there was no danger to the public. The suburban facility, which is based in Minneapolis, said in a statement:"Xcel Energy took swift action to contain the leak to the plant site, which poses no health and safety risk to the local community or the environment.”Chris Clark, the president of Xcel Energy in Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota, told CBS Minnesota that if at any point the leak posed health concerns for the public or a threat to their safety at any given point, they would have immediately provided more information.However, they also wanted to ensure that they fully understood what was happening before they started raising public concerns.The U.S. NRC said tritium spills are frequent at nuclear plantsGeneration Atomic 🇺🇦@Gen_Atomic@ZieglerTanya @realstewpeters Tritium is very weak radiologically. To get the same radiation as an X-ray you'd have to chug 8 gallons of this water right from the source. Calcs here:docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…2@ZieglerTanya @realstewpeters Tritium is very weak radiologically. To get the same radiation as an X-ray you'd have to chug 8 gallons of this water right from the source. Calcs here:docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, is produced naturally in the environment and is also a common by-product of nuclear powerplant operations. According to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), a weak form of beta radiation is emitted from the compound, which does not travel far, nor can it probe into human skin. Moreover, if someone drinks water from the spill, they will only get a low dose.The NRC also added that this compound occurs in spills at nuclear plants from time to time. However, it has been repeatedly determined that these spills either involve low offsite levels or remain limited to the power plant property, which is why they do not affect public safety or health.Meanwhile, Minnesota state officials said that they waited all these months to get more information on the source and nature of the leak before going public with the news.The informant@theinformantofc🛢☢️ - This Thursday, the company #XcelEnergy announced that it had detected a leak of more than 1.5 million liters of water contaminated with tritium, a radioactive element, at a nuclear power plant in #Monticello, near the city of #Minneapolis, in the north of the country.810🇺🇸🛢☢️ - This Thursday, the company #XcelEnergy announced that it had detected a leak of more than 1.5 million liters of water contaminated with tritium, a radioactive element, at a nuclear power plant in #Monticello, near the city of #Minneapolis, in the north of the country. https://t.co/jfZxNKiSDKMichael Rafferty, a spokesman from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, stated that they knew about the presence of compound tritium while monitoring the leak. However, Xcel could not immediately identify its source and location. He continued:"Now that we have all the information about where the leak occurred, how much was released into groundwater, and that contaminated groundwater had moved beyond the original location, we are sharing this information."Rafferty added that the contaminated water was contained on Xcel’s property and did not pose an immediate public health risk. The Minnesota Department of Health also mentioned on its official website that the leak did not reach the waters of the Mississippi River.The company said that the leak came from a pipe between the two buildings. Xcel Energy has been pumping groundwater, storing and processing contaminated water since then. The tritium level in the contaminated water is below the federal threshold.Even though Xcel tried to assure the public that the nuclear spill does not pose a safety threat to their health, netizens were not convinced.Jhon⚜@Jbandz2t@rawsalerts Just another infrastructure crumbling after another141@rawsalerts Just another infrastructure crumbling after another https://t.co/hzDvNilpcSdana@dana916 For almost half a year, US authorities hushed up the leak of 15 tons of liquid radioactive waste from the Xcel Energy Monticello nuclear power plant in Minnesota in November 2022. The public didn't know about it until yesterday.infantmilitario104‼️ For almost half a year, US authorities hushed up the leak of 15 tons of liquid radioactive waste from the Xcel Energy Monticello nuclear power plant in Minnesota in November 2022. The public didn't know about it until yesterday.infantmilitario https://t.co/hbZEdZSAssRobert Moffitt@justplainbobYou simply can't have a major spill of radioactive water at a nuclear power plant and just sit on this information for 4 months. Not telling the public ASAP is paternalistic and wrong. Shame on Xcel Energy and the MPCA.155You simply can't have a major spill of radioactive water at a nuclear power plant and just sit on this information for 4 months. Not telling the public ASAP is paternalistic and wrong. Shame on Xcel Energy and the MPCA.🔸️Angry.Ostriches.Are.No.Fun.@DaAngryOstrichMe: *Falls asleep watching HBO Chernobyl* Me: *Wakes up & looks at the first headline on Google News.*BBC-"Clean-up of radioactive water leak ongoing at Minnesota nuclear plant"Me:81Me: *Falls asleep watching HBO Chernobyl* Me: *Wakes up & looks at the first headline on Google News.*BBC-"Clean-up of radioactive water leak ongoing at Minnesota nuclear plant"Me: https://t.co/2PgH8mIsPrHarrison Krank@HarrisonKrankSam Brinton spent his time in minnesota stealing airport luggage instead of checking on the Nuclear waste leak in Monticello6311Sam Brinton spent his time in minnesota stealing airport luggage instead of checking on the Nuclear waste leak in MonticelloKatyinIndy@KatyinIndyHello Democrat voters!!! @TheDemocrats are busy trying to kill us all off….INCLUDING YOU & YOUR FAMILIES!!!! twitter.com/rawsalerts/sta…R A W S A L E R T S@rawsalerts#BREAKING: Over 400,000 gallons of radioactive water has leaked from a nuclear plant#Monticello | #MinnesotaThe Minnesota Department of Health and other state agencies are currently monitoring the Xcel Energy Monticello Nuclear plant after over 400,000 gallons of water… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…57082🚨#BREAKING: Over 400,000 gallons of radioactive water has leaked from a nuclear plant📌#Monticello | #MinnesotaThe Minnesota Department of Health and other state agencies are currently monitoring the Xcel Energy Monticello Nuclear plant after over 400,000 gallons of water… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/ZCeyH37plzHello Democrat voters!!! @TheDemocrats are busy trying to kill us all off….INCLUDING YOU & YOUR FAMILIES!!!! twitter.com/rawsalerts/sta…Winston Smith 🇺🇸⚾️@Michael50196372@rawsalerts And the air was good to breathe after 9/11.463@rawsalerts And the air was good to breathe after 9/11.Xcel Energy has stated that 25% of the spilled compound has been recovered so far. Efforts to recover all of it will continue, and the company will also install a permanent solution this coming spring.Aside from that, they are thinking about building above-ground storage tanks where they can store the recovered contaminated water. Xcel is also considering options to treat, reuse, or dispose of the collected compound and the water.