- WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- High levels of a radioactive material
- nearly three times the amount permitted in drinking water - were found
in groundwater near the Hudson River beneath a nuclear plant, the owner
said Tuesday.
-
- The groundwater does not intersect drinking
supplies, and although the strontium-90 is believed to have reached the
Hudson it would be safely diluted in the river, said Jim Steets, spokesman
for Entergy Nuclear Northeast.
-
- The strontium - which in high doses can
cause cancer - was found in a well dug in a search for the source of a
leak of radioactive water at the Indian Point complex, about 30 miles north
of New York City.
-
- The test well is among nine dug in an
attempt to pinpoint the leak. Contaminated water was first found in August.
-
- Entergy's finding matched tests by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the same sample, Steets said.
-
- The sample also yielded tritium, another
potential carcinogen, at levels well above the drinking water standard.
High levels had been found earlier in another test well. The nuclear commission
announced Monday that it would investigate releases of tritium at Indian
Point and other plants.
-
- Neil Sheehan, a commission spokesman,
said the agency still believes the radioactivity - given that it is not
in drinking water - is well below the level that would "pose a risk
to public health and safety."
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