Is Tritium dangerous? Minnesota Nuclear Power plant leak hazards explored amid online concern

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.

Minnesota 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.

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The U.S. NRC said tritium spills are frequent at nuclear plants

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.

Michael 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.

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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.