No tritium from Indian Point in Buchanan sewage system

June 2, 2007
No tritium from Indian Point in Buchanan sewage system
Buchanan -- Entergy has notified local public officials and federal and local regulators and health agencies that possible indications of tritium in the sewer lines at Indian Point reported in early May have proven to be incorrect.
At the time, Entergy said sampling for tritium at extremely low levels, as is being done in the sampling program at Indian Point, could sometimes lead to “false positives,” but that Entergy would pursue verifying the validity of the sampling and investigate the possible sources, said company spokesman James Steets.
“We have since been able to determine that those were false positives that we reported and through additional sampling that we did and more detailed analysis, as well as various inspections and efforts taken onsite to identify possible sources of this tritium, we were able to determine in the last couple of days that there was no tritium in the sewage at all,” he said.
Entergy workers also inspected potential sources inside the plants that could have provided a pathway for the tritium. An examination of plant drawings and physical infrastructure inspections showed there is no pathway for the radioactive materials to get off site through the sewage system.
Tritium is a low energy-emitting radioactive isotope found naturally in the environment and a byproduct of the fission process in commercial nuclear reactors.
No tritium has been seen above background levels in any of the numerous samples taken outside of the Indian Point property, including the Buchanan sewage treatment plant and other nearby properties.