When Entergy discovered small amounts of tritium in the water in three of 40 monitoring wells at its Indian Point nuclear plant north of New York City last week, it must have sent off pulsating political alarms in the New Orleans headquarters.
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According to Cuomo’s statement, he had been informed by the plant’s operator, Entergy Corp, that the contaminated water had not flowed off the site and posed no public health risk. Samples will continue to be taken regularly from the monitoring wells, and the utility is investigating the source of the elevated tritium levels.
The Indian Point Nuclear Plant has been the offender of multiple violations in the past, with the most recent occurring in 2009 when 600,000 gallons of boiling, radioactive water escaped from the facility.
A leak of radioactive material into the groundwater below a nuclear power station in New York City’s suburbs highlights a chronic problem with the nation’s atomic plants, some watchdogs said.
The NRC said the leak was the result of a radioactive water in the plant that overflowed a drain, while it was being transferred.
Cuomo called it “extremely disconcerting”.
Even with the new readings, there is no impact to public health or safety, and although these values remain less than one-tenth of one percent of federal reporting guidelines, Entergy again made voluntary notification to the NRC, state agencies and other key stakeholders. In 2007, as the state’s attorney general, he accused the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of being irresponsible as it sought to relicense the plant.
“Indian Point would never have been licensed in such a highly populated area had it been proposed today”.
“Although we don’t have an exact cause, we believe it is likely cause is activities done in preparation for an upcoming refueling operation”, Entergy spokesman Jerry Nappi said Monday.
Cuomo ordered the state departments of Health and Environmental Conservation to begin investigations of the incident.
“While elevated tritium in the ground onsite is not in accordance with our standards, there is no health or safety effect to the public, and releases are more than a thousand times below federal permissible limits”, the company said. Governor Cuomo and his family live in Westchester County, the same county where Indian Point is located.
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A federal radiation specialist with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will visit Indian Point Thursday to conduct visual inspections and monitor Entergy’s investigation, reported The Journal News. Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino – who ran against Cuomo in 2014 – also sought to allay fears, calling for the leak to be placed in “proper context” and decrying the “false hysteria” surrounding it.
