July 2 , 2006

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Lawmaker Says Tritium Found in Groundwater Near Zion
Associated Press
Belleville News-Democrat, IL
June 24, 2006

CHICAGO - Traces of tritium have been discovered in groundwater at the deactivated Zion nuclear power plant in northern Illinois, a state lawmaker said.

Sen. Susan Garrett, D-Lake Forest, said Exelon Corp. officials told her that the company dug wells near the Zion plant last month after the discovery of tritium at other Exelon nuclear facilities.

Preliminary tests show one of the wells in Zion contained low levels of tritium, but there is no threat to public safety, Exelon Nuclear spokeswoman Krista Lopykinski said Friday.

"From the information we have now, it does not seem that any tritium has gotten off site," said Viktoria Mitlyng, a spokeswoman for the Midwest office of the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "So it's contained on site and the activity levels are very low, so basically there is no threat to the public."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says exposure to tritium can increase cancer risks. Exelon has said tritium levels found so far don't pose a health threat.

Three Illinois nuclear power plants have reported leaks of tritium into groundwater. While the levels of contamination have been well below health standards, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has formed a task force on the issue.

"If it's a problem now on site, I can't imagine that there wasn't an issue ... from day one to when they decommissioned the plant," Garrett said. "We need to better understand what's going on at these nuclear power plants."

In the Zion facility, which closed in 1998, tests from one well showed about 1 percent of the level of tritium determined by federal guidelines to be acceptable in drinking water. Another test in the same well determined the presence of about 3 percent of the acceptable tritium level.

More testing will be done at the Zion plant, and testing already is under way at all the other Exelon nuclear facilities in the state, Lopykinski said.

http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/14895035.htm