"No danger" from decades of Pa. nuclear leaks? By Ray Wallace

The nuclear industry is self-reporting these repeated uncontrolled radioactive leaks to groundwater under an industry-led “voluntary initiative” program. In our view, voluntary reporting is not a reliable or acceptable substitute for a comprehensive regulatory program aimed at protecting water resources.

     -- From the Executive Summary of “Leak First, Fix Later: May 2015” at this current site: http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/356082/26211375/1431107955223/LeakFirstSummary_May2015.pdf?token=pCtJ4Mq0yC15OZLocnFVxfeMisc%3D

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     Radioactive material was detected in a monitoring well in April at an Exelon-owned nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania about 40 miles from Baltimore, according to nuclear regulators.

     Exelon, the parent company of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and the largest owner of nuclear power plants in the United States, notified the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it found dangerous levels of tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, in a monitoring well at Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station on the Susquehanna River in Delta, Pa.

     The agency said the contamination posed no danger.

     -- From “Radioactive leak reported at Peach Bottom plant,” by Carrie Wells, at this June 18, 2015 Baltimore Sun site:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-peach-bottom-leak-20150618-story.html

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Beyond Nuclear report reveals Peach Bottom leak is part of pattern

     A groundwater monitoring well at the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania that tested positive in April 2015 for significant levels of tritium contamination is just the latest example of a decades-long pattern of leaking nuclear reactors and a weak regulatory system that fails to openly address and fix the problem as required in licensing agreements.

     These were the conclusions of a Beyond Nuclear investigative report – Leak First, Fix Later: Uncontrolled and Unmonitored Radioactive Releases from Nuclear Power Plants – released today. The 2015 version of the report updates the findings of the first edition, published in 2010. 

     “Nuclear plant operators and their regulator consistently fail to address and enforce reactor performance requirements to protect the environment and public health,” said Paul Gunter, Director of Reactor Oversight at Beyond Nuclear and the author of the report. “Our research found that U.S. nuclear power plants continue to experience uncontrolled leaks and spills of radioactive water because the buried pipes and tanks that transport and store it remain inaccessible,” Gunter said.

     -- From this June 18, 2015 Beyond Nuclear site:

http://www.beyondnuclear.org