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"The number and severity of the leaks has been escalating, even as federal regulators extend the licenses of more and more reactors across the nation. Tritium, which is a radioactive form of hydrogen, has leaked from at least 48 of 65 sites, according to Nuclear Regulatory Commission records reviewed as part of the AP's yearlong examination of safety issues at aging nuclear power plants. leaks from at least 37 of those facilities contained concentrations exceeding the federal drinking water standard. While most leaks have been found within plant boundaries, some have migrated off-site. But none is known to have reached public water supplies."

"When tritium was found leaking from Vermont Yankee in January, the nuclear power plant violated state law that makes groundwater a public trust, an environmental group has charged in a filing with the state Public Service Board. The Vermont Natural Resources Council hopes to augment pending arguments from others that the Vernon nuclear power plant should be shut down as a result of the leak, said Jon Groveman, VNRC's general counsel. The Public Service Board agreed in February to consider the arguments of the Conservation Law Foundation and New England Coalition that Vermont Yankee should be shut down either temporarily or permanently because of the tritium leak. The case is pending before the board. Vermont Yankee has argued that only the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission can regulate the plant's release of radioactive material. Groveman said he hopes VNRC's argument will show that the state does have jurisdiction in protecting its groundwater. The Legislature passed a law in 2008 declaring groundwater as a public-trust resource. By allowing tritium to leak into the groundwater, Vermont Yankee violated that law, he said."

A valve leaking radioactive water inside Vermont Yankee's reactor building was undergoing emergency repairs Wednesday, Entergy Nuclear said. The leak did not require the company to shut down or even reduce power, according to Entergy Nuclear spokesman Laurence Smith. Smith said the leak, which was losing about 2-1/2 gallons of "slightly radioactive" water a minute, had been discovered about two weeks ago during routine company inspection by plant operators. Smith said the radioactive water, which comes from the reactor water's cleanout system, was cleaned and filtered before being returned to the reactor building. The water is not discharged to the Connecticut River, he said.

A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine which has steadily been leaking a small amount of radiation for over two years stopped at three Japanese ports, as well as Guam and Pearl Harbor, the United States and Japan said on Thursday. Japan was notified by the United States last week that the nuclear-powered USS Houston had been leaking water containing a small amount of radiation, but was told at the time that it was unclear when the leak had started.

Uranium leaked from a reservoir at a French nuclear power plant earlier this week, contaminating two rivers near the town of Avignon. People in nearby towns have been warned not to drink any water or eat fish from the rivers since Monday's leak. Officials have also cautioned people not to swim in the rivers or use their water to irrigate crops [BBC News]. In response to the leak, the French nuclear safety agency ordered the plant to shut down temporarily while it improved safety measures.

Confirmation that radioactive brine has been leaking for two decades from a German underground deposit for nuclear waste is yet another blow to the idea that nuclear power can safely increase electricity generation and simultaneously reduce emissions. Radioactive leaks from the nuclear waste deposit Asse II near Braunschweig in Lower Saxony, some 225 km southwest of Berlin, were first discovered in 1988. The state-owned Helmholtz Institute for Scientific Research, which operates the centre, officially admitted the leaks only Jun. 16, under pressure from the German press.

Engineers at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant are still trying to stop a pipe from leaking slightly radioactive water. Vermont Yankee spokesman Rob Williams says there have been several attempts to fix the gasket in the 4-inch pipe in the reactor's clean-out system, but all have failed. The company announced last month that the leak had been discovered. At one point, it leaked about 3,600 gallons of water a day. The water isn't released into the environment. Advertisement Williams says engineers will attempt this week to reinstall a sealant.

Ottawa's riverkeeper is growing increasingly concerned about an aging nuclear reactor sitting on the shore of the city's primary source of drinking water. Meredith Brown released a two-page report earlier this week that outlines concern over recent leaks at the Chalk River nuclear facility. "Under the best of circumstances I am uncomfortable with the very idea of a nuclear reactor operating on the banks of the Ottawa River," said Brown. "However, when that reactor is old and prone to leaks, I am particularly concerned. Even more alarming is the fact that these leaks are not reported to the public in detail in a timely manner."

A second radioactive leak at the Palisades nuclear plant has been fixed. "I'm happy to say we have found the source of the leak," said Mark Savage, the public-affairs and communications director for Palisades, "and have repaired that." The new leak was at a turn in a pipe and was because of the failure of a weld, Savage said. The pipes and welds are stainless steel. "We think it was during original construction," Savage said. In June, Savage told the Van Buren County Board of Commissioners that tritium levels were rising in monitoring wells.

RADIOACTIVITY leaking from a pipe, which was first spotted on the day of the Prime Minister's visit to Sellafield, had been escaping into the open for 14 months, it has been revealed. The incident has been raised to level two on the International Event scale - the highest at Sellafield since the major leak in Thorp four years ago. Sellafield Ltd said: "There is no relation between the two. The amount of radioactivity involved in this incident was very low." The leak was discovered on January 23 - the day the Prime Minister made his announcement about new reactors. The radioactivity came from an overhead ventilation duct carrying water vapour (condensate) from the Magnox reprocessing plant for dilution treatment before authorised discharge to the sea. There was a steady drip from a faulty valve flange contaminating a two metre square concrete slab. A walkway had to be cordoned off to prevent access. No workers are said to have been harmed and no contamination was found above normal background levels.

"Two recent nuclear leaks expose the danger of overhyping a technology that is still not ready for prime time. There has been a recent bout of positive press for the hurting nuclear energy industry, with props given by the likes of Barack Obama and Bill Gates, causing some to call it a nuclear "comeback." And while I agree with both our president and our most famous billionaire that nuclear will at some point it the future be a big part of the solution, a spate of recent events has drawn attention to the fact that though it helps on the carbon front, nuclear power is still very dangerous business. Last year the Chalk River power plant in Ottowa sprung two leaks, spewing 7,000 liters of radioactive water per day into the Ottowa River and this month a similar mysterious leak at the Yankee Vermont plant is resulting in dangerous tritium contamination of the nearby Connecticut River. A full 25 percent of the 104 nuclear reactors in the U.S. have leaked tritium, a known carcinogen. Yes, these are old plants but they call attention to the fact when nuclear goes wrong it can go very wrong. Though there are some newer, safer next-generation nuclear technologies available, they are prohibitively expensive to bring online and still require highly radioactive fuel stocks. There are many exciting developments in nuclear R & D (see my visit to LANL) which make use of downgraded nuclear fuels, but they are in the early stages of development, and that means we're not likely to see them popping up in the landscape anytime in the near future. * Nuclear, Strike 1: TOXIC WASTE * Nuclear, Strike 2: EXCESSIVE COST * Nuclear, Strike 3: WATER DEMAND * The 6 myths of nuclear energy exposed"

"An e-mail from an anonymous whistleblower claiming Vermont Yankee nuclear power station officials were aware of a radioactive leak years ago and failed to properly fix it is being investigated by the state attorney general's office. On Wednesday, state officials said the e-mail claims that leaking underground pipes carrying radioactive fluids at the Vernon plant were first discovered two years ago and never reported to authorities. Utility regulators said the claims are true, but are now exploring them further with help from the state attorney general's office. The tip, from a person who claims to be a VY employee was received last weekend, and alleges Yankee employees were told to patch the leaking pipe rather than shutdown the power plant to make permanent repairs."

"The plume of tritium leaking from the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is suspected of being 35 feet deep, 200 feet wide and 400 feet long, according to the Legislature's nuclear expert. Arnie Gundersen, a member of the Vermont Legislature's Public Oversight Panel for Vermont Yankee, told lawmakers Wednesday morning the quickest way to stop the tritium leak before finding its origin would be for the reactor to shut down. Gundersen said that move would likely cost Entergy, the company that owns Vermont Yankee, about $1 million a day in electricity sales. "If the plant shuts down, the tritium leak stops," Gunderson told members of the Senate Natural Resources Committee at the Statehouse Wednesday. "It would take years for the tritium to move off-site, but you would not be adding anything to it if the plant shut down.""

adioactive tritium that was in water which leaked from the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant has migrated into a second aquifer, the state Department of Environmental Protection reported. Leaks at the plant, owned by Exelon Nuclear, were reported April 15 and Aug. 25. DEP Deputy Commissioner Nancy Wittenberg stated in a Nov. 19 letter to Joseph Grimes, Exelon Nuclear Mid Atlantic Operations senior vice president, that tritium is migrating at the site and has entered the Cohansey aquifer - an underground, water-bearing area - which is below the Cape May aquifer. "Based on modeling of potential routes of exposure, there appears to be no current public health impact, and no samples have exceeded New Jersey's surface water standard," Wittenberg wrote.

adioactive tritium that was in water which leaked from the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant has migrated into a second aquifer, the state Department of Environmental Protection reported. Leaks at the plant, owned by Exelon Nuclear, were reported April 15 and Aug. 25. DEP Deputy Commissioner Nancy Wittenberg stated in a Nov. 19 letter to Joseph Grimes, Exelon Nuclear Mid Atlantic Operations senior vice president, that tritium is migrating at the site and has entered the Cohansey aquifer - an underground, water-bearing area - which is below the Cape May aquifer. "Based on modeling of potential routes of exposure, there appears to be no current public health impact, and no samples have exceeded New Jersey's surface water standard," Wittenberg wrote.

"The radioactive leak of tritium at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant is just the tip of the iceberg of deferred maintenance, representatives for the New England Coalition said Wednesday during a meeting with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The watchdog group filed a petition with the NRC against Entergy Nuclear, the owner of Vermont Yankee, about a month ago, asking that the reactor be shut down until the source of the tritium leak was identified and shut off. While that immediate request was denied, the coalition is pushing for enforcement against Entergy Nuclear, saying the tritium leak is just an indication of a larger problem. "

"Entergy Nuclear officials failed to investigate five sinkholes that developed outside the reactor building for the past two years that were near the site of what turned out to be the radioactive leak at Vermont Yankee, according to a state report. And a state official said he believes the radioactive leak at Yankee had been going on for two years before it was discovered by Entergy Nuclear in early January, based on hydrology studies of the site. William Irwin, radiological health chief for the Department of Health, said Wednesday that during the first meeting he attended at Vermont Yankee after the tritium leak was discovered, he heard a top-level engineer say he had seen a sinkhole near the advanced off-gas building, which is where Entergy finally found the leak. "

"Approximately 310,000 pounds of soil and other solid waste from the groundwater contamination investigation at Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant has been packed into 10 tractor-trailer like containers for shipment to a licensed radioactive waste disposal facility, according to an update posted on the Vermont Department of Health's website on Friday. But when the leak of tritiated water was discovered, the public was told by Entergy, which owns and operates Yankee, it would need to dispose of 240 cubic feet of earth from the excavation around what was determined to be the source of the leak. If a cubic foot of dirt weighs on average 40 pounds, that's only 9,600 pounds. So where did the other 300,400 pounds come from? Larry Smith, Yankee's director of communications, said he's not sure where the Department of Health came up with the 310,000-pound number. Smith said Yankee plans to dispose of only 240 cubic feet of contaminated soil as a result of the leak. That soil will fit in three 3-by-4-by-4-foot approved containers that will be shipped to a low-level waste facility in Clive, Utah, he said. "

"On Friday two more groups, the Department of Public Service and the Conservation Law Foundation each filed testimonials regarding the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. The two testimonies filed with the Vermont Public Service Board come a day after the Vermont Natural Resources Council filed its own testimony with the board claiming the nuclear plant violated the state's groundwater public trust law and should be shut down immediately. While Conservation Law Foundation echoed the suggestions made by VNRC, the Department of Public Service, by contrast, stated VY had taken an appropriate course of action in response to the discovery of a tritium leak in January. Since the leak was discovered, "Vermont Yankee assembled an effective team to locate and stop the source of the leak to the environment," according to testimony by Uldis Vanags, the state nuclear engineer with the DPS. Vanags continued, "I witnessed Vermont Yankee following all its procedures to assure there was a thorough engineering review prior to the drilling of sample wells and any excavation work." "

"A radioactive form of hydrogen called tritium was found leaking out of a storage tank this week at the Exelon Nuclear generating station south of Marseilles, plant officials said Thursday in a press release. "We have identified the source of the tritium leak and are taking actions to make repairs," said La Salle Site Vice President Dave Wozniak. "This finding has no impact on public health or safety." Workers performing regular monitoring discovered tritiated water near the base of a tank. Exelon notified state and federal regulatory agencies. On Wednesday workers sampled water at the base of a tank that stores water from the plant and found tritium. The plant is transferring water from the tank to temporary containers. Workers will inspect the empty tank and make necessary repairs, Exelon said. There is no indication that tritiated water has left the station property, Exelon said."

"A radioactive leak occurred at a Chinese nuclear power plant last month but has just been made public. Radio Free Asia reported that "radioactive iodine and noble gas" were in high levels around Southern China's Shenzhen's Daya Bay nuclear power station plant and that the May 23 leak had been covered up. Hong Kong electric utility CLP has a 25 percent stake in the power plant, which is 75 percent owned by China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group. The plant, 31 miles from Hong Kong's Tsim Sha Tsui district, supplies 70 percent of its electricity to Hong Kong."