Tritium leaked from Vermont Yankee detected in Connecticut River

The Associated Press has reported that tritium leaking from the Vermont Yankee atomic reactor has been detected in the Connecticut River by State of Vermont health officials. Although Vermont Yankee's tritium leaks are taking place via unmonitored and uncontrolled pathways -- a regulatory violation -- it must be remembered that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and other federal and state agencies across the country permit nuclear utilities to "routinely release" tritium (and other radioanuclides) into rivers (and lakes, and the ocean) on an ongoing basis, as documented in Beyond Nuclear's backgrounder "Routine Radioactivity Releases from Nuclear Power Plants in the United States: What Are the Dangers?" In addition, as the AP article mentions, the leakage of tritium at aging atomic reactors across the country has grown to epidemic proportions, a problem that Beyond Nuclear's Paul Gunter documented in April 2010 in his report "Leak First, Fix Later."