Push in Ontario for strengthened tritium drinking water health protection standards

Rosalie Bertell is a Grey Nun of the Sacred Heart and Ph.D. in Biometrics. She has been awarded 1986 Right Livelihood (altnerative Nobel Peace Prize) -- and many other environmental and human rights awards -- for her lifelong work to protect human health against the hazards of ionizing radiation and toxic chemicals. On March 1, 2008, Dr. Bertell provided testimony to the Ontario Drinking Water Advisory Council on behalf of the International Institute of Concern for Public Health which she founded. She called for a dramatic strengthening of health protection standards regarding radioactive tritium in drinking water. The Ontario Drinking Water Advisory Council seems to have listened, for in May 2009 it advised the provincial government of Ontario to lower "permissible" levels of tritium in drinking water down from 7,000 becquerels per liter (189,000 picocuries per liter) to 20 becquerels per liter (540 picocuries per liter), a 350-fold strengthening of Ontario health protection standards, and a nearly 40-fold strengthening upon current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency drinking water standards (which allow for 20,000 picocuries per liter of tritium in drinking water).

Beyond Nuclear testimony to Vermont Legislature regarding Vermont Yankee radioactivity leaks

On Jan. 27th, Beyond Nuclear's Radioactive Waste Watchdog, Kevin Kamps, testified before a joint hearing of the State of Vermont House and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committees regarding radioactivity leaks from underground pipes at Entergy Nuclear's Vermont Yankee atomic reactor. The notes accompanying Kevin's Power Point Presentation can be obtained upon request. Beyond Nuclear's Reactor Oversight Project Director, Paul Gunter, also prepared a backgrounder on buried pipes and tritium leaks that was distributed to Vermont legislative committee members. Later that same day, nuclear expert witness Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates, Inc., presented a Power Point Presentation documenting Entergy Nuclear's repeated "misstatements" to the Vermont House Energy and Natural Resources Committee regarding the presence of buried piping that carries radioactive materials at the Vermont Yankee atomic reactor.

"The risks of nuclear energy are not exaggerated"

Author Ian Fairlie discusses the health effects of radiation in The Guardian. Fairlie points to incidence of childhood leukemia and cellular effects at low doses which existing dose limits and standards fail to take into account. As a result, humans are not protected well enough from radiation exposure.

Co-60 and Zn-65 also detected in Vermont Yankee groundwater

In addition to the hazards of tritium, harmful Cobalt-60 and Zinc-65 radioisotopes have been detected in groundwater at Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. According to the Rutland Herald,  Co-60 levels are 130 times higher than federal reportable levels, while the Zn-65 levels are over 8 times higher than federal reportable levels. Tritium concentrations in a test well just 30 feet from the Connecticut River are higher than EPA Safe Drinking Water Act limits allow, and tritium concentrations in a radioactive waste trench are even in violation of NRC's lax groundwater standards. Meanwhile, Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee has hired a Washington, D.C. law firm to investigate allegations, and do damage control, concerning top ENVY officials providing false testimony under oath to state officials regarding the presence of buried pipes at Vermont Yankee that carry radioactive liquids.

"Highly radioactive water found at Vermont nuke plant"

In a startling development, news agencies are reporting that water containing 2 million picocuries per liter of radioactive tritium -- "about 100 times the allowable federal level for drinking water and 70 times the standard for groundwater" -- has been discovered at Entergy Nuclear's Vermont Yankee atomic reactor. The discovery comes just days after Vermont Yankee spokesman Rob Williams mischaracterized a more than 15% increase in radioactive tritium concentrations in test well water, from 17,000 to nearly 20,000 picocuries per liter, as a stabilizing situation, stating on a Vermont Public Radio interview "Essentially, those two readings - 17,000 to 20,000 - those are in the ballpark where you could say it's essentially stable at this point." Now that tritium readings in water at Vermont Yankee that are 100 times more radioactive than that have been revealed, let's hope Entergy spokesman Rob Williams stops trying to downplay the seriousness of the situation.