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MAIN NAVIGATION

 * Home
 * Data, Statistics, and Legislation
 * Diseases and Conditions
 * Health Care Facilities, Providers, and Insurance
 * Healthy Communities, Environment, and Workplaces
 * Individual and Family Health
 * About Us
 * News and Announcements
 * Translated Materials


BREADCRUMB

 1. Home
 2. Healthy Communities, Environment and Workplaces
 3. Environments and Your Health
 4. Air Quality

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Topic Menu


AIR QUALITY

 * Air Quality by Topic


RELATED TOPICS

 * Asbestos
 * Asthma
 * Healthy Homes
 * Climate and Health
 * Healthy Places


ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DIVISION

 * EH Division Home


AIR QUALITY

 * Air Quality by Topic


RELATED TOPICS

 * Asbestos
 * Asthma
 * Healthy Homes
 * Climate and Health
 * Healthy Places


ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DIVISION

 * EH Division Home


XCEL ENERGY MONTICELLO POWER PLANT TRITIUM LEAK

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), in coordination with the
Minnesota Department of Health, and the Minnesota Department of Natural
Resources, is monitoring Xcel Energy’s efforts to clean up a release of water
contaminated with tritium detected at the company’s Monticello nuclear
generating plant.

Xcel Energy reported the leak to the Minnesota Duty Officer and the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) in November 2022 after finding unusual results
during routine monitoring.

The leak has been stopped and has not reached the Mississippi River or
contaminated drinking water sources.


INFORMATION ABOUT THE LEAK

The company reported about 400,000 gallons of the water containing tritium
leaked from a water pipe running between two buildings at its Monticello
facility. The leak was stopped and the company is monitoring the groundwater
plume through two dozen wells. An estimated 20% of the tritium has been
recovered through extraction wells, and contaminated water continues to be
pumped from the groundwater. The pumped water is currently being stored and some
is being reused on site.


NEXT STEPS

Xcel Energy’s facility continues to operate during the cleanup. It is regulated
by the About NRC | NRC.gov.

Minnesota state agencies are working with Xcel Energy on a permanent solution to
manage the recovered tritium-containing water. Some options being considered
include adding aboveground storage tanks or installation of a retention pond to
store recovered water for treatment, reuse, or final disposal. These strategies
would require permits from the MPCA.


ABOUT TRITIUM

Tritium is a naturally occurring radioactive form of hydrogen that is produced
in the atmosphere. It is a byproduct of the production of electricity by nuclear
power plants.

More information can be found at:

 * Health Physics Society: Tritium (PDF)
 * Backgrounder On Tritium, Radiation Protection Limits, And Drinking Water
   Standards | NRC.gov
 * Radionuclide Basics: Tritium | US EPA.

Health risks from the leak for people

Currently, there is no health risk due to this situation. Monitoring wells are
being sampled frequently to track the migration of the plume while the plant
works to recover the tritiated water. Should the monitoring well results
indicate protective action is necessary, it will be taken at that time.

The main potential health risk from this event is the possibility of radiation
exposure to the public. A conservative assumption in radiation protection is
that any radiation exposure could result in an increase in cancer occurrences in
the population.

Drinking water impacts from the leak

We have no evidence at this time that there are impacts to public drinking water
in the vicinity of the plant. We will continue to monitor and assess the
situation. The EPA safe drinking water concentration for tritium is 20,000
picocuries/liter. It is not expected or likely that this concentration would be
exceeded as a result of this event.

Private well testing in the vicinity of the plant for tritium is not necessary
at this time. We will continue to assess the situation to determine the need as
we monitor the situation.

More information will be added to this webpage as it is available.


CONTACT WITH QUESTIONS

Email box for questions will be posted soon. 

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Last Updated: 03/17/2023


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