Minnesota Power Plant, Leak Occurred in November, , Public Made Aware in March.
On March 16, regulators in Minnesota said they were monitoring the cleanup of a leak of 400,000 gallons of radioactive water.
NBC reports that Xcel Energy's Monticello nuclear power plant said that there was no danger to public health.
Xcel Energy took swift action to contain the leak to the plant site, which poses no health and safety risk to the local community or the environment, Xcel Energy, via statement.
According to NBC, while the leak was reported to federal authorities in late November, the public was not notified until March 16.
State officials claim they waited to notify the public while they gathered more information.
We knew there was a presence of tritium in one monitoring well, however Xcel had not yet identified the source of the leak and its location, Michael Rafferty, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency spokesman, via NBC.
Now that we have all the information about where the leak occurred, how much was released into groundwater, and that contaminated groundwater had moved beyond the original location, we are sharing this information, Michael Rafferty, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency spokesman, via NBC.
Xcel, which notified the state of the leak on November 22, said they have been pumping groundwater, while also storing and processing contaminated water.
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Ongoing monitoring from over two dozen on-site monitoring wells confirms that the leaked water is fully contained on-site and has not been detected beyond the facility or in any local drinking water, Xcel Energy, via statement.
According to the company, the water being stored and processed contains tritium levels below federal limits
