Apparently, the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant has fixed it’s leak. [OMG! They leak?] There have been more than 20 leaks at nuclear power plants around the country.
Vermomt Yankee, after drilling a monitoring well, found tritium in the soil and ground water. Tritium is a low-level radioactive by-product of nuclear plants. Fortunately, none of the material was found in drinking water supplies or the nearby Connecticut River.
They say the leak has caused a credibility concern for Entergy, the company that owns the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. [Ya think?] Approximately 150 cubic feet of soil and material will be removed and contaminated gound water is being pump into above gound containers for use in the plant itself.
The leak began in two pipes inside a concrete tunnel. A clogged drain was also found in the tunnel, which allowed the water to seap through an unsealed joint in the tunnel wall.
This is a case where a failure to properly maintain the technology we’ve created nearly caused a disaster. It’s highly unlikely monitoring is something a large corporation would do without regulatory motivation. It appears the government may have done something right by requiring such monitoring. This would be a bite we collectively avoided. But, with 20 other leaks and surely more to follow, it’s only a matter of time before we have a “Three Mile Island” type incident.
Orlando Ex. Arpt, FL