Radioactive material has been detected in the groundwater at Indian Point nuclear power plant in New York.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that the water contaminated by tritium leaked into the groundwater at the nuclear facility.
“The company reported alarming levels of radioactivity at three monitoring wells, with one well’s radioactivity increasing nearly 65,000 percent,” he said.
“This latest failure at Indian Point is unacceptable and I have directed Department of Environmental Conservation Acting Commissioner Basil Seggos and Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker to fully investigate this incident and employ all available measures, including working with Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to determine the extent of the release, its likely duration, cause and potential impacts to the environment and public health,” Cuomo said.
The governor then added that the contaminated water did not leave the site and reiterated that there is no immediate threat to public health.
The state’s environmental conservation and health departments will now investigate.
Indian Point Energy Center has a generating capacity of more than 2,000 megawatts and provides enough power to light about 2 million homes.
