Groundwater Events Sorted by Location

The document catalogs numerous instances of radioactive water leaks and spills at US nuclear power plants, detailing events such as tank overflows, pipe ruptures, and the detection of tritium in groundwater. It lists specific units, dates, and the nature of the contamination, including the volume of water released and the remediation steps taken, such as soil excavation.

• At the Alvin W. Vogtle Unit 1 and Unit 2 plants, radioactively contaminated water leaked from an outdoor temporary storage tank during 1994 and 1995, leading to the removal of contaminated concrete and soil remediation, though radioactivity was still detected in 2006.
• The Big Rock Point facility experienced multiple contamination events, including a 1984 leak where an estimated 20,000 gallons of radioactively contaminated water from the condensate system leaked into the soil.
• At Braidwood Unit 1 and Unit 2, an estimated 280 gallons of water with a tritium concentration of 180,000 picocuries per liter leaked from the FRAC tank area on 2006-03-13 due to a failed berm wall.
• Browns Ferry Unit 1 had an inadvertent discharge of approximately 1,400 gallons of liquid radwaste to the river on 1973-10-19 because a tank was mistakenly placed in discharge mode instead of recirculation mode.
• Brunswick Unit 2 reported that tritium concentrations in monitoring well ESS-2C increased from 492,600 picocuries per liter in 2004 to 1,833,000 picocuries per liter in 2008.
• At the Edwin I. Hatch Unit 1 plant, an estimated 8,200 gallons of potentially radioactively contaminated water overflowed an underground collection tank on 2008-05-01 after dirt and gravel buildup disabled the pump.
• The Haddam Neck facility experienced a significant inadvertent discharge of approximately 223,200 gallons of radioactively contaminated water to the river on 1977-11-04, containing about 266 curies of tritium.
• At the McGuire Unit 2 plant, multiple groundwater samples from a monitoring station at the northeast corner of the auxiliary building between 2006-02-14 and 2006-07-26 measured tritium levels above the EPA standard of 20,000 picocuries per liter, with one sample reaching 138,000 picocuries per liter.
• The Oyster Creek plant had an estimated 130,000 gallons of radioactively contaminated water, mostly tritium (estimated 75 curies), leak from the condensate system to the discharge canal and Barnegat Bay in 1996.
• At the Rancho Seco facility, between January 6, 1986, and March 6, 1986, approximately 350,000 gallons of radioactively contaminated water were discharged to the environment via an uncontrolled process, resulting in a $100,000 civil penalty proposed by the NRC.
• St. Lucie Unit 1 reported that the refueling water tank leaked approximately 55,141 gallons of radioactively contaminated water into the ground, estimated to contain 6.54 curies, with 6.5 curies being tritium.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2010). Groundwater Events Sorted by Location. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/Groundwater-Events-Sorted-by-Location.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Groundwater Events Sorted by Location. 2010. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/Groundwater-Events-Sorted-by-Location.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Groundwater Events Sorted by Location |date=27 September 2010 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/Groundwater-Events-Sorted-by-Location.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2010groundwater, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Groundwater Events Sorted by Location}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2010}, month = sep, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/Groundwater-Events-Sorted-by-Location.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }