ML061070537
| ML061070537 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Braidwood  |
| Issue date: | 02/03/2006 |
| From: | Steven Orth NRC/RGN-III |
| To: | - No Known Affiliation |
| References | |
| FOIA/PA-2006-0115 | |
| Download: ML061070537 (3) | |
Text
I Cynthia Pederson - UPDATE -- Braidwood Tritium Contamination Page 1 From:
Steven Orth To:
Braidwood Communications Team Date:
2/3/06 7:15AM
Subject:
UPDATE -- Braidwood Tritium Contamination EXELON has extended its communications of the incidents to additional members of the public. On January, 26, 2006, the licensee issued a letter (attached) that has been sent out to the three local zip codes su-rounding the site (approximately 2700 addressees). The letter provides the message that has been communicated through the licensee's press briefings - accepting responsibility for the contamination, stating that the contamination poses no health or safety hazard, and describing the licensee's current course of action. The licensee has also developed a WEB site (www.BraidwoodTritium.info) to provide updated information to the public and is planning a "Community Information Night" at some time in February 2006, which Region III plans to attend.
The City of Godley, which is a town immediately SouthWest of the site, is also planning a town meeting on February 7, 2006, to discuss the potential impacts from the tritium contamination. The NRC has not bean invited to that meeting. The town was previously impacted by diesel fuel oil spills from Braidwood that occurred in the late 1 990s.
The licensee is continuing its evaluation of the tritium contamination and its proposals for remediation.
Recently, the licensee identified additional contamination in groundwater at an offsite location near Vacuum Breaker No. 4, which is owned by the Forest Preserve District. In one of three groundwater well locations, the licensee measured tritium at about 24,500 picoCuries per liter (shallow well). The licensee has obtained an additional sample to validate that result.
Until it can provide confidence that no further leakage will occur, the licensee has suspended all radioactive releases through the blowdown line and is storing radioactive liquid waste in temporary onsile storage tanks.
Region IlIl is planning to complete its radiation safety inspection by the end of February 2006.
c:\\temp\\GW})0001.TMAP Page 1 1 Mail Envelope Properties (43E358D1.A85: 20:14434)
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Fwd: UPDATE -- Braidwood Tritium Contamination 2/3/06 7:21AM Cynthia Pederson CDP I (nre.gov Action Da Recipients nrc.gov chjpo.CHDO KSW (Steven West)
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Exelkn.
Nuclear 4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555 January 26, 2006
Dear Neighbor:
You may have read recent newspaper stories or seen television news broadcasts regarding contamination of groundwater near the Braidwood Nuclear Generating Station. We are writing this letter to provide you with important information about this issue.
First and foremost, the contamination is confined to an area beside the plant and, based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards, presents no health or safety hazard to anyone in Braidwood or the surrounding area.
At issue Ere elevated levels of tritium that were discovered in some monitoring wells on the plant property and just outside the property.
The affected groundwater is in an area about 2,000 feet square adjoining the plant property to the north, near Smiley Road and Center Street.
The affected ground water is in shallow ground (about 15-25 feet deep) and moves slowly. This enables us to easily monitor changes well in advance of them occurring.
No municipal water supplies are affected and only one private drinking water well is impacted based on data collected to date.
We have installed a large number of monitoring wells in and around the plant property and are working aggressively to come up with a remediation plan that will be approved by the State of Illinois.
Tritium is a naturally occurring form of hydrogen with a very low level of radioactivity. It is found in virtually all water in very low levels and is produced in greater concentrations in commercial nuclear reactors such as those at B raidwood.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established drinking water standards for tritium. Only one drinking water well, which is near the plant, has shown any levels of tritium above detectable levels, and those were very low - a fraction of the safe drinking water standards established by the U.S. EPA.
As we have said publicly, we are responsible for this tritium entering the ground and we are committed to cleaning it up. In the meantime, this situation does not present any danger to your health and we will keep you informed.
We have established a telephone number you can call if you have questions (815-458-7000), and in the next few days you will be able to go to a website for information on the project. The address is www.BraidwoodTritium.info. In addition, we are planning a community information night regarding tritiurn sometime in February. More information about that event will be published on the website and in local newspaper ads.
Sincerely, Thomas S. O'Neill Vice President, Regulatory & Environmental Affairs Exelon Nuclear