An Aging Nuclear Plant in Minnesota Is Leaking Radiation: Should You Be Concerned? – By Eric Mack (CNET) / Mar 24 2023
Hundreds of thousands of gallons of radioactive tritium-tainted water were released not far from the Mississippi River.
A nuclear power plant on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minnesota is temporarily powering down to fix a leaking pipe that’s been releasing contaminated water.
The leak of tritium-tainted water from the facility run by Xcel Energy in Monticello, Minnesota, was discovered in November after it had released about 400,000 gallons. The company says it put a temporary fix in place to catch the leaking water and route it back into the plant until permanent repairs could be done during a planned refueling shutdown in April. But late Thursday it announced that the fix was no longer capturing 100% of the tainted water.
“While the leak continues to pose no risk to the public or the environment, we determined the best course of action is to power down the plant and perform the permanent repairs immediately,” Chris Clark, president of Xcel Energy–Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, said in a release.
