[NukeNet] Radioactive water found beneath San Onofre

[MJ]

Radioactive water found beneath San Onofre

One substance tests 16 times higher than the EPA's allowable level.
Another federal agency sees no health threat.

By JOHN McDONALD and ANDREW GOOD
The Orange County Register
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/homepage/article_1246083.php

SAN ONOFRE - Radiation levels 16 times higher than allowed in drinking
water were discovered last week in groundwater beneath Unit 1 of the San
Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, which last operated in 1992.

As part of Unit 1's decommissioning, workers tested the water below and
found radioactive tritium at levels high enough to cause concern, plant
spokesman Ray Golden said.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Victor L. Dricks said there was no
public-health danger from the radioactive water. He said that annual
radiation exposure from natural sources is about 300 millirems a year.
Anyone in contact with the water found under San Onofre would receive
about 1/10 millirem of radiation exposure, he said.

However, the tritium levels found far exceed the Environmental Protection
Agency's standards, which differ from the commission's.

Two samples were taken of the water. One registered 50,000 picocuries per
liter, about two and a half times higher than the 20,000 picocuries per
liter level the EPA allows in drinking water. The second sample measured
330,000 picocuries, 16 times higher than allowed.

San Clemente officials said they were notified of the findings Wednesday
and independent water sampling is planned at city water sources.

"It concerns me," Councilwoman Susan Ritschel said. "We have a couple
drinking water wells (being tested) just to ensure there's no problem.
Even though it's quite a distance to the plant, we want to err on side of
caution."

Golden said that regular monitoring of water, soil and air on the plant's
perimeter showed normal radiation levels around the facility since 1968,
when the plant first opened. The closest drinking water wells are about
two miles from the plant, one in a residential area to the north and one
south at Camp Pendleton.

He said the water under the plant migrates toward the sea, away from the
wells. There was no indication radioactive water had reached the ocean.

About 10,000 gallons of the groundwater was pumped into an outfall pipe
that carries 1.6 million gallons per minute from the plant's cooling
system 8,600 yards into the ocean.

"If a surfer were in that water 24-7 for 365, he would get only 1
millirem," Golden said.

Plant officials are trying to determine what caused the water to become
radioactive. Golden said it was likely a leak in water used to cool the
reactor, water from the pool where spent fuel rods were stored or from
tanks of radioactive water used in replacing the reactor's fuel rods.

A major leak would have set off alarms, but a small leak over many years
would have gone undetected, Golden said.

It was uncertain how much water leaked, but it likely occurred between
1968 and 1992, when the plant was operating, Golden said.

Dricks said that 10 other nuclear power plants have reported radioactive
water beneath their containment structures.

He said the conditions are a concern to Nuclear Regulatory Commission
officials but to date none has amounted to a threat to public health.

San Clemente Councilman Steve Knoblock said he's uncertain of the extent
of the contamination.

"We're testing ground wells in San Clemente," he said. "It doesn't appear
at this point to be a health risk."

He said remediation efforts must be taken promptly.

"I get the impression from reports it's trace amounts. I suspect the test
well will be clear. This is stationary water 25 feet above sea level. It's
not going to be migrating. We're on it, watching," Knoblock said.

CONTACT US: 949-465-5424 or jmcdonald at ocregister.com



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"I came to America because of the great, great freedom which I heard 
existed in this country. I made a mistake in selecting America as a land of freedom, a mistake I cannot repair in the balance of my lifetime." - Albert Einstein, who would accumulate nearly 100,000 pages of FBI files before he died.

"Liberty and democracy become unholy when their hands are dyed red with 
innocent blood": Gandhi, Non-violence in Peace and War, 1948

Molly Johnson 
6290 Hawk Ridge Place
San Miguel, CA  93451
Cell: 805 296-0524

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