FILE - People walk on a trail at the Montissippi County Park near the Xcel Energy Monticello Generating Plant, a nuclear power plant, in Monticello, Minn., on Friday, March 24, 2023. , the energy company responsible for the leak from its nuclear power plant in Monticello, Minnesota, announced on Thursday.
Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, has not been detected in the river water itself, Xcel Energy said in a statement. “The closest sample to detect tritium is about 30 feet from the river, and detected about 1,000 picocuries per liter, far below Safe Drinking Water Act standards, or below 20,000 picocuries per liter," the statement said.
Xcel Energy discovered in November that about 400,000 gallons of water containing tritium had leaked from a faulty pipe. The utility made a temporary fix but learned in March that hundreds more gallons of tritium-laced water leaked, leading to a dayslong shutdown to fix the pipe. While the utility and health officials say the leak is not dangerous, the issue has prompted concerns among residents and raised questions about aging pipelines.The nuclear plant is about 40 miles northwest of Minneapolis.