NRC apologizes, changes stance on power plant's tritium leak

MONTICELLO — A representative of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has apologized for public reassurances from its staff that a major leak of radioactive tritium from Xcel Energy’s Monticello nuclear reactor had not reached the Mississippi River, a drinking water source for 20 million people including the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area.

In opening remarks during an NRC-sponsored public hearing at the Monticello Community Center on Wednesday, May 15, NRC Senior Environmental Project Manager Stephen S. Koenick reversed the NRC staff’s often-repeated assurances that leaked tritium from the 53-year-old Monticello reactor had not been detected in the Mississippi River.

“I would like to take a moment to address and clarify some miscommunication regarding the presence of detectable tritium in the Mississippi River,” Koenick said. “I know we had meetings in which we reported there were no indication of tritium leak making it to the Mississippi. However, in our Draft Environmental Impact Statement, we do say, we do conclude, there were some very low concentrations of tritium in the Mississippi River.”

“These concentrations were very low, well below the required detection levels, leading to the misrepresentation that the tritium was not detected in the Mississippi,” Koenick said. “So we apologize for this miscommunication.”