Tritium has leaked from nuclear plants

The Union of Concerned Scientists says tritium has leaked from at least seven U.S. reactors in the last 10 years.

The Braidwood Generating Station, near Braceville, Ill., owned by the Exelon Corporation, has leaked tritium into underground water, the New York Times reported Friday.

Exelon has offered to help pay for a municipal water system for houses near the plant that currently get water via private wells.

Of its 10 nuclear plants, Exelon found tritium in the ground at two others and Tuesday said it had a spill at Braidwood, about 60 miles southwest of Chicago.

Thursday, the Illinois attorney general filed a lawsuit against the company over that leak and five earlier ones, dating back to to 1996.

Craig Nesbit, a spokesman for Exelon, said that neither Godley's water nor Braidwood's water system was threatened, but that the company had lost credibility when it did not publicly disclose a fuel oil spill and spills of tritium from 1996 to 2003. However, he said, no well outside company property shows levels that exceed drinking water standards.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

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