Vermont Yankee Tritium in Connecticut River

DOH discovers tritium in Connecticut River
By BOB AUDETTE / Reformer Staff

BRATTLEBORO -- According to the Vermont Department of Health, a water sample taken from the Connecticut River just offshore from Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon tested positive for tritium.

The sample, which was taken about six feet from the shore on Nov. 3, had a level of 1,120 picocuries per liter.

A sample analyzed by a laboratory contracted by Entergy, which owns and operates the plant, tested at 1,230 picocuries per liter.

The EPA limit for tritium in drinking water is 20,000 picocuries per liter.

According to Bill Irwin, chief of radiological health and safety for the Vermont Department of Health, no other radiological materials have turned up in the river or in groundwater samples taken at the plant and from off-site monitoring wells.

"The only radioactive materials we have identified so far have been consistent with the levels found everywhere from nuclear weapons fallout," said Irwin. "But we continue to take samples for other radioactive materials that might be from fallout or from nuclear power generation."

According to DOH's website, the water samples have been sent to a contract laboratory to be analyzed for hard-to-detect radioactive materials including strontium-90.

Confirmatory gamma spectroscopy and analysis for tritium will also be done.

"Our concern is that we continue to have the opportunity to evaluate the environment for further contamination and keep a close BRATTLEBORO -- According to the Vermont Department of Health, a water sample taken from the Connecticut River just offshore from Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon tested positive for tritium.

The sample, which was taken about six feet from the shore on Nov. 3, had a level of 1,120 picocuries per liter.

A sample analyzed by a laboratory contracted by Entergy, which owns and operates the plant, tested at 1,230 picocuries per liter.

The EPA limit for tritium in drinking water is 20,000 picocuries per liter.

According to Bill Irwin, chief of radiological health and safety for the Vermont Department of Health, no other radiological materials have turned up in the river or in groundwater samples taken at the plant and from off-site monitoring wells.

"The only radioactive materials we have identified so far have been consistent with the levels found everywhere from nuclear weapons fallout," said Irwin. "But we continue to take samples for other radioactive materials that might be from fallout or from nuclear power generation."

According to DOH's website, the water samples have been sent to a contract laboratory to be analyzed for hard-to-detect radioactive materials including strontium-90.

Confirmatory gamma spectroscopy and analysis for tritium will also be done.

"Our concern is that we continue to have the opportunity to evaluate the environment for further contamination and keep a close