nuclear-news

Indian Point power plant radioactive leak gets worse

New samples from groundwater monitoring wells show 80% higher concentrations of tritium compared with when the leak was first reported Saturday.

Cuomo had already ordered the state health and environmental conservation commissioners to investigate the incident. But on Wednesday, he ordered a more sweeping investigation that also includes the Department of Public Service.

ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP WANTS INDIAN POINT POWER PLANT SHUT DOWN

In addition, investigators from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are scheduled to visit the plant on Thursday to look into the incident.

Entergy, the company that runs the plant, insisted there is no threat to public health or safety.

“Last week the company reported alarming levels of radioactivity at three monitoring wells, with one well’s radioactivity increasing nearly 65,000%,” Cuomo said. “The trends of unexpected outages and environmental incidents like these are extremely disconcerting.”………

environmentalists, who have called for the plant to shut down during the probe, said there have been too many leaks and other problems at the plant over the years.

“The news just keeps getting worse,” said Paul Gallay, president of the watchdog group Riverkeeper. “Our concerns go beyond the spike in tritium levels. This is about a disturbing recurrence of serious malfunctions — seven over the last eight months.”…… http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/indian-point-power-plant-radioactive-leak-worse-article-1.2526779?cid=bitly

February 12, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general