nuclear-news

Radioactive water reaches aquifer

Tainted nuke plant water reaches major NJ aquifer, Google hosted news, By WAYNE PARRY (AP) –9 May, 2010, LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Radioactive water that leaked from the nation’s oldest nuclear power plant has now reached a major underground aquifer that supplies drinking water to much of southern New Jersey, the state’s environmental chief said Friday.The state Department of Environmental Protection has ordered the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station to halt the spread of contaminated water underground,……….. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Exelon insist Oyster Creek can operate safely until it is 60 years old. But environmental groups disagree.

“The bad news is Exelon’s Oyster Creek plant … has now become a major threat to South Jersey’s drinking water,” said David Pringle of the New Jersey Environmental Federation. “The good news is NJDEP Commissioner Martin is taking aggressive action to safeguard our water and hold Exelon accountable for this leaky 40 year old plant.”

Julia LaMense of the Eastern Environmental Law Clinic hailed the state’s action and condemned the NRC “for letting it come to this.”

“It’s a sad day when the ‘wait and see’ approach taken in response to yet another ‘trust us’ from Exelon results in exactly what we feared — contamination of one of the most significant aquifers in the region,” she said.

The Associated Press: Tainted nuke plant water reaches major NJ aquifer

May 10, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water | antinuclear, nuclear wastes, radioactive, reactors, water