The operator of a nuclear facility in Minnesota said on Thursday the plant suffered a leak last November of water containing radioactive tritium, but that contamination was largely limited to the plant itself.
Xcel Energy, operator of the nuclear plant northwest of Minneapolis in the Midwest state of Minnesota, did not say why it waited more than three months to acknowledge the leak to the public.
The company said it notified state officials and the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) once it learned of the leak on November 22.
“While this leak does not pose a risk to the public or the environment, we take this very seriously and are working to safely address the situation,” Chris Clark, the utility’s president, said in a statement.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said the company told it some 400,000 gallons of water containing tritium leaked at the site, but none “reached the Mississippi River or contaminated drinking water sources.”
State officials “are actively reviewing data” from the site and “overseeing remediation efforts,” the agency said.
The company said it has “recovered about 25 percent of the tritium released and will continue recovery over the course of the year.”
The leak originated in “a water pipe between two buildings” at the Monticello nuclear plant.
Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that is a byproduct of the production of electricity at nuclear plants. It can also occur naturally in the environment.
