Exelon Says Tritium Leak No Big Deal

Exelon has been working hard to allay fears from nearby residents after a tritium leak at Dresden Nuclear Power plant by assuring people that the leak was small and happened within the plant's property, posing no threat. According to The Herald News:

Routine monitoring late last week revealed 3.2 million picocuries per liter of water was found in one monitoring well and in nearby storm drains and a concrete vault located near an outside water storage tank.

Tritium is a radioactive hydrogen isotope that is a by product of nuclear reactors producing electricity. Elevated levels of tritium are believed to cause cancer. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has deemed 20,000 picocuries per liter of water as safe. A picocurie is one-trillionth of a curie which is a measurement of radiological doses.

In a statement, Dresden site vice president said, "While this is not a public or employee safety issue, we are committed to being forthright, clear and concise with our neighbors about the status of our plant operations. Our monitoring program functioned as designed alerting us to the presence of tritium early so that we can address this issue quickly and effectively." Testing continues at the plant for the source of the leak and to ensure there are no other contaminated areas.