nuclear-news

Expert advises shutdown of leaking Yankee Nuclear Plant

Nuclear Expert Says Yankee Should Shut Down VPR News: 02/10/1 John Dillon – Montpelier, Vt. An expert on nuclear power hired by the Legislature says Vermont Yankee should shut down voluntarily to stop its radiation leaks. VPR’s John Dillon has more:

(Dillon)….Nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen said the leak of radioactive tritium at Vermont Yankee may soon be followed by releases of other, more dangerous materials if the plant keeps operating.

Gundersen – who serves as a consultant to the Legislature – told lawmakers that tritium is a form of hydrogen contained in water that’s leaking from the plant toward the Connecticut River.

(Gundersen) Tritium moves like water in a stream. And the other isotopes move like stones tumbling down the river. They move at a slower rate through the soil than the tritium. So the tritium is the first warning, but it’s not clear until they get close to the leak that it’s the only thing in the soil.

(Dillon) Gundersen says he’s concerned about other radioactive materials such as Cobalt 60 leaking into the ground. He said if the plant stops operating, tritium and these other materials will no longer escape into the environment.

(Gundersen) “Given the dilemma that Vermont Yankee’s in right now, they would certainly do themselves do themselves a service to shut down and solve this problem in the eyes of Vermonters……………

(State Health Commissioner Wendy Davis ) “The amounts that we would be talking about at this time are not amounts that should pose a threat to human health… Having said that, however, we remain extremely concerned because of the high levels in which tritium has been found on the plant site, the likelihood that we may at some point encounter other radioactive materials that potentially carry a greater threat to human health.

VPR News: Nuclear Expert Says Yankee Should Shut Down

February 11, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1