Note to reporters: On March 16th, the Illinois Office of the Attorneys General and the Will County States Attorney jointly filed suit against nuclear utility, Exelon and its subsidiaries, based on the corporations failure to report a series of radioactive leaks totaling in the millions of gallons of contaminated with tritium into groundwater which has threatened private drinking water supplies around the Braidwood nuclear plant. From what is currently known, the leaks occurred as early as 1996 and in 1998 but were not revealed until recently. Another large leak occurred in 2000. Similar leaks have been discovered at Exelons Dresden and Byron nuclear plants in Illinois. Will County States Attorney General, James Glasgow, said Exelon and its subsidiaries clearly placed their profit margin first with a callous disregard for the health, safety and welfare of the local residents. Tritium is a clinically proven cause of cancer and birth defects and can damage the DNA.
Statement of Paul Gunter, NIRS director of the Reactor Watchdog Project, regarding the potential for similar leaks at other Exelon sites and the necessity for well water testing.
The lawsuit brought on Wednesday by the state of Illinois and Will County reveals just the tip of a tritium iceberg now emerging as a hazard nationwide.
The revelations in Illinois confirm what we have long known that nuclear power stations are far from benign but generate and release the most dangerous emissions on earth radiation.
In our view, it is criminal to first hide these leaks when they occur and then trivialize the potential health consequences from an unsuspecting public when they are discovered.
The residents near Exelons Braidwood, Dresden and Byron atomic reactors especially children, the most vulnerable of all were denied their inalienable right to make an informed decision.
Poisoned water has been leaving these atomic power sites for who knows how long. Radiation has escaped as both surface water runoff and an underground radioactive plume. Residents have unknowingly consumed, cooked and bathed with tritiated water, risking chronic exposure to a toxic substance that can cause cancer and birth defects with repeated and prolonged exposure.
The people of Illinois and Will County are neither deceived nor satisfied by hollow claims from industry that such exposure is harmless. This propaganda has already been debunked by the National Academy of Sciences that has declared there is no safe dose however low of radiation.
People living around all of Exelons sites in fact, all nuclear reactor sites must demand to have their drinking water independently and fully tested. The experience of the Exelon cover-up and the complicity of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission means that neither the industry nor the regulator can be trusted to protect human health from corporate greed.
With our continued efforts at full disclosure, we expect this first lawsuit to spark similar discoveries of hidden radioactive spills from other nuclear stations across the country. This is a welcome turn of events. It is long past the time to pull back the veil that has economically protected the nuclear industry from public health scrutiny.
Note:
On January 25, 2006, NIRS jointly filed an emergency enforcement petition before the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission requesting that all nuclear power station operators be required to answer a Demand for Information identifying the potential for tritium leaks from their facilities past, present and future. On March 1, 2006, NRC accepted the petition and is scheduling discussions with the industry and the petitioners prior to the issuance of a Demand for Information on tritium spills nationwide. You can view documents including a copy of the March 16 press release from the Illinois Office of the Attorney General, the joint emergency enforcement petition on tritium leaks dated January 25, 2006 and the March 1, 2006 NRC letter accepting the petition by visiting our website at: http://www.nirs.org/radiation/tritium/accidents.htm
Exelon Nuclear and its subsidiaries operate the following nuclear power stations:
Braidwood 1 and 2 Braidwood, Illinois
Byron 1 and 2 Byron, Illinois
Clinton Clinton, Illinois
Dresden 2 and 3 Morris, Illinois
LaSalle 1 and 2 Marseilles, Illinois
Limerick 1 and 2 Pottstown, Pennsylvania
Oyster Creek Lacey Township, New Jersey
Peach Bottom 2 and 3 Delta, Pennsylvania
Quad Cities 1 and 2 Cordova, Illinois
Three Mile Island Unit 1 Middletown, Pennsylvania