The Mississippi River was not affected by the spill.
A nuclear power plant in Minnesota released at least 400,000 gallons of radioactive water in November, but the leak was finally made public on Thursday.Minnesota regulators briefed the public on the developments and said they have been monitoring the cleanup at the Monticello nuclear facility, according to bbc.
Tritium is a typical by-product of nuclear reactor activity and is present in water. According to the Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, tritium, a naturally occurring radioactive isotope of hydrogen, produces a weak form of beta radiation that does not penetrate human skin or travel very far in the air ( NRC). According to the NRC, tritium leaks occasionally occur from nuclear power facilities, although they are usually contained locally and rarely pose a risk to public safety or health. Xcel Energy first noticed a pipe leak between the two structures on November 21.
The state’s largest city, Minneapolis, is about 35 miles (56 kilometers) upstream of the Mississippi River, which was not affected by the spill, the outlet quoted the Minnesota Department of Health as saying.
“Xcel Energy acted quickly to contain the spill to the plant site, which posed no health and safety risk to the local community or the environment,” the Minnesota-based utility said in a statement Thursday.
“While the Xcel plant is within our community, the City of Monticello has no authority to manage the nuclear power plant. If state or federal oversight agencies determine that there are any potential or actual impacts to the City’s drinking water supply or infrastructure, the City will The public was notified immediately with the assistance of agencies,” Mayor Lloyd Hillgart said in a statement.
According to Xcel Energy, crews inspected the plant at all potential leak points, and a laboratory will examine leaking pipes. About 25% of the leaked tritium has been recovered so far, and the company said it may build above-ground storage tanks to store the toxic water.
