Xcel Energy has recently provided an update on its efforts to manage a water leak discovered late last year at the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant, however did not release a public statement until recently.
The company has been working diligently to contain the leak and treat the affected water while ensuring there are no health or safety risks to the local community or the environment.
“The leak”, detected on November 22, 2022, was approximately 400,000 gallons, contained tritium – a compound that is naturally present in the environment and commonly created in the operation of nuclear power plants.
Although tritium emits low levels of radiation, similar to everyday materials, the levels found in the leaked water were below the safety thresholds set by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
Since discovering the leak, Xcel Energy has been pumping, storing, treating, and reusing the water on-site.
Ongoing monitoring from over two dozen on-site wells confirms that the leak is fully contained and has not been detected beyond the facility or in any local drinking water.
State agencies continue to monitor Xcel Energy’s remediation work to ensure the continued safety of the local community and surrounding environment.
The company has already recovered about 25% of the tritium released and plans to recover the rest over the next year.
The source of the leak was identified as a water pipe running between two buildings.
Xcel Energy is currently diverting the water to an in-plant water treatment system to prevent additional water from leaving the plant and will install a permanent solution in spring 2023.
In response to the leak, Xcel Energy has increased its monitoring efforts by constructing new monitoring and recovery wells and enhancing the frequency of measurements from its existing network of over two dozen groundwater monitoring wells.
The company is also likely to construct large storage tanks on-site to store recovered water until it can be treated and reused.
The Monticello plant has implemented an advanced groundwater monitoring program since 2007, and the nuclear industry’s experience with the successful containment and treatment of tritium has helped inform the steps taken at the plant.