TVA reports tritium leak at Watts Bar

TVA reports tritium leak at Watts Bar

BY REBECCA FERRAR
ferrarr@knews.com

TVA has reported to state and federal officials a leak of tritium, a radioactive material, into a monitoring well at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant near Spring City.

The tritium was from the plant's reactor and from the operation at the plant where TVA is making tritium for the Department of Energy to be used in making nuclear bombs. Tritium is the substance that gives nuclear weapons their deadly blast.

"TVA was doing some repair work on pipes for the waste discharge system and a temporary piping leaked," said Dave McIntyre, spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

"One of the monitoring wells found higher-than-expected samples of tritium. Since then, repairs have been completed, and tritium levels have decreased in that well."

TVA has six wells on the site.

"There was no off-site release, no threat to employees and no public health hazard," McIntyre said. "No tritium was detected off-site or in the Tennessee River."

Watts Bar sits on the Tennessee River.

The leak occurred Feb. 10.

Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a short half-life.

Gil Francis, TVA spokesman, said the higher-than-normal levels of tritium were discovered in samples from monitoring locations.

"No tritium was detected in off-site wells, public drinking supplies or the Tennessee River," he said.

Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, a TVA watchdog, said anytime there is a leak of this nature, it should be a public concern.

As a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, tritium can be incorporated into our bodies, Smith said.

"Any release is a very serious thing," Smith said. "Is this a catastrophic release? No. Hopefully (TVA) has got it under control, and it sounds like they do. There have been releases of tritium before."