Published on : Jun 10, 2014
The groundwater monitoring testing experiment conducted at the Dresden nuclear power plant in Illinois exhibited levels of tritium. A sample for the same was taken from the 2/3 contaminated water storage tank, a well on near site leak on the June 8. The plant owner Exelon mentioned that the leak contained to Exelon property.
The nuclear plant notified the EMA and EPA that elevated levels of tritium existed at the discharge of the plant in between April 2 and June 2. This was according to a report filed with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
In the process of site investigation into the initial leak, evidence showed that no greater than 0.1 Curies of tritium were discharged from the site. The maximum majority was discharged into the Kankakee River which was an amount less than 2 percent to the Morris Illinois sewage treatment facility. The release into the environment associated with the elevated tritium levels were discovered on June 7 and were reported to the IEPA on June 8.
The plant workers keep a watch over the wells and have isolated the discharge system as well. The state environmental agencies need notification when some release needs to get to the soil, surface water, or groundwater goes offsite at a greater rate 200 pCi/liter or remains on-site greater than 0.002 Curies.