Tritium found in well water at Vt. Yankee nuclear plant

October 8, 2010, Burlington Free Press, Terri Hallenback

Radioactive tritium has been detected for the first time in a former drinking-water well at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, a potential indication that tritium that leaked from the plant has migrated to a deep underground aquifer, state, federal and plant officials said late Friday afternoon.

“The significance is, this is the first time we’ve seen this in any sort of drinking-water aquifer, but the levels are very, very low,” said Neil Sheehan, spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The announcement prompted Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Dubie to issue a statement in which he shifted his tone regarding the future of the 38-year-old plant.

“Until questions are answered and public health can be assured, I cannot support the plant’s continued operation past 2012,” Dubie said in a news release Friday evening.

Until Friday, Dubie hasn’t suggested he could not support the plant’s continued operation, and in debates he has said he was hesitant about closing down the plant.At an Oct. 1 election debate about energy issues, Dubie also said, “Before I hand a pink slip to a mom or a dad of the 650 people who work at Vermont Yankee, I’m going to look them in the eye and say, ‘I did my job. I evaluated all the data, and this is the conclusion I came to.’”

Thursday night, when six gubernatorial candidates were asked during a Vermont Public Television debate to indicate if they would support closing Vermont Yankee, all but Dubie raised their hands. Vermont Yankee’s operating license expires in 2012, and its owners are seeking a 20-year extension. Not long after the tritium leak was reported at the plant last January, the state Senate voted against allowing the Public Service Board to decide on an extension. The future of the plant that provides one-third of Vermont’s electric power is a front-burner issue in the race for governor. Dubie’s Democratic opponent, Peter Shumlin, led the push for the Senate vote and has called for shutting down the plant in 2012. Dubie opposed the Senate vote, arguing the Public Service Board should make the decision, not the Legislature. In his statement Friday, the Republican did not mention the Public Service Board but said the NRC and the Vermont Department of Health “must prove the plant poses no health risk to Vermonters before I will be satisfied.” Dubie campaign spokeswoman Kate Duffy contended Friday’s statement wasn’t a change in position for Dubie, as he has said all along that the plant’s safety is paramount. “He’s using this announcement to reiterate his position,” she said. Friday’s written statement e-mailed to the Free Press from Dubie was titled “Lt. Gov. Dubie demands answers from VY.” When asked what questions Dubie wants answered, Duffy said by e-mail, “He didn’t have a list of specific questions for VY, but said the burden of proof is on Vermont Yankee to prove to the NRC and the Health Dept. that the plant is safe. Entergy has to prove to THEIR standards that the plant is safe, and until that happens, it’s premature to talk about relicensing.” Previously, Dubie had said he would want proof the plant poses a risk before the state shut down the facility. Democrat Shumlin said Friday, “Brian has consistently defended the stockholders of Entergy Louisiana and has failed to use good Vermont common sense. How many leaks and lies does Brian Dubie have to live through before he will stand up for the people of Vermont?” Entergy Louisiana owns Vermont Yankee. The state Health Department announced Friday that Vermont Yankee had reported that the well tested positive for tritium. The well, near the source of the tritium leak, had not been used for drinking water since Feb. 22, when it was taken out of service because of the leak, Vermont Yankee spokesman Larry Smith said. The sample showed 1,040 picocuries per liter of tritium in the well, an amount well below the 30,000 picocuries-per-liter threshold for reporting tritium in a monitoring well. Smith said Vermont Yankee reported it anyway in light of public attention to the tritium leak. Sheehan, of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Vermont Yankee initially received test results Oct. 2 indicating there was a reading of 1,380 picocuries per liter of tritium in the well. The sample was sent for further testing and was confirmed at 1,040 picocuries per liter, he said. Sheehan said further study would be needed to determine where the tritium has migrated and at what quantity. The nearest active drinking-water wells are in the opposite direction from the flow of groundwater at the plant, he said. Testing of two on-site drinking-water wells and those across the road at Vernon Elementary School and at the Hinsdale, N.H., Town Hall was negative for tritium, Smith said.