NRC to NY Gov Cuomo: SCREW YOU ( Indian Point Leak )

Update:

So how hot was the fuel pool water?

“How the water was able to make its way out of the Unit 2 spent fuel pool building basement into the groundwater and then result in some groundwater monitoring wells showing a spike in tritium,” Sheehan says. “This is not a new at issue at Indian Point in terms of groundwater contamination. They’ve had some issues in the past there, including leakage from the Unit 2 spent fuel pool building.” 

***The NRC is telegraphing to the public they are going to treat this barely about normal inspection significance. Their significance determination system tells the agency this event is non safety related. 

In 1976, EPA established a dose-based drinking water standard of 4 mrem per year to avoid the undesirable future contamination of public water supplies as a result of controllable human activities. In so doing, EPA set a maximum contaminant level of 20,000 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) for tritium. This level is assumed to yield a dose of 4 mrem per year. If other similar radioactive materials are present in the drinking water, in addition to tritium, the sum of the annual dose from all radionuclides shall not exceed 4 mrem per year. Water treatment plant operators use this drinking water standard, along with monitoring requirements, to remain vigilant regarding the amount of radioactivity in drinking water and provide a means to gauge if the concentration of contaminants in finished drinking water is increasing or decreasing over time. This standard was expected to be exceeded only in extraordinary circumstances (EPA, 1975; EPA, 1976b).

A "special inspection" means the agency thinks this is serious and they would send in more inspectors than one. 

Radiation Specialist to Probe Spill at N.Y.'s Indian Point

Jim Polson

February 8, 2016 — 9:44 AM EST

A specialist from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will investigate the cause of a spike in radioactivity in groundwater at Energy Corp.’s Indian Point nuclear power plant north of New York City. 

The radiation protection specialist is expected at Indian Point Monday, agency spokesman Neil Sheehan said by phone. New Orleans-based Entergy notified the agency late last week it had detected record levels of tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, in water under the plant.

Elevated levels followed a pump failure that caused a spill of radioactive water during maintenance at one of the plant’s reactors, Sheehan said. It was unclear when the spill occurred, said Sheehan who added there is no threat to public health.

There are no drinking water wells nearby and groundwater under the plant flows through fractured rock into the Hudson River where tritium is diluted to undetectable levels, Sheehan said. 

Patricia Kakridas, a spokeswoman for Entergy, didn’t immediately return a phone call and e-mail seeking comment on Monday. 

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who wants Indian Point closed, Sunday ordered the state’s environmental and health agencies to investigate the spill and its potential effect on the environment and public health. Cuomo’s office described radioactivity levels found in groundwater as "alarming."  

Indian Point has a generating capacity of more than 2,000 megawatts, or about 25 percent of the electric power used in New York City and Westchester County, according to Entergy’s website. It’s located 27 miles (43 kilometers) north of New York and can generate enough electricity to supply power to about 2 million homes.