Last week, State of MN and Xcel Energy officials released information to the public about a water leak that was discovered in November, 2022, at the Monticello Nuclear Power Plant.  A broken pipe between the reactor and turbine buildings, which are located just one-half of an inch apart, had led to the accidental discharge of approximately 400,000 gallons of tritium tainted (tritiated) water into the ground.

The leak was discovered through a positive result for tritium in a monitoring well at the facility, and Xcel officials immediately informed the State of MN, as well as the United State Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of that test result.

“The day we found the tritium we made the report to the NRC and to the state,” Chris Clark, Xcel Energy President of MN and the Dakotas, told the Patriot in an interview Tuesday afternoon.  “Our focus then turned to finding the leak and containing the water coming out of that leak.”

Clark said it took some time to isolate the source of the leak, since it was located in such a narrow channel between the two buildings.  Once the break was located, the water was diverted from the pipe to stop the discharge and the work on remediation began.

“Working with ground water experts and our hydrologists, we tried to figure out the best way to retrieve that water, and we ended up using a pumping strategy,” Clark said.  “We are pumping from four different wells.”

The effort appears to be working, as both Xcel and officials from the NRC report that the plume of tritiated water has been contained to the site.

Xcel Manager of Environmental Services Pat Flowers noted that immediately upon the first notification of the leak, the routine water testing at the plant determined that it was an isolated incident.

“With our monitoring well network and the way we sampled it, we knew right away this (tritium) had stayed on site,” Flowers said. “The way the wells are set up, there was one central well that had this indication.  All the wells that surrounded it and buffered it from the river all came back with nothing in them.”

A statement provided to the Patriot from the NRC supports Xcel’s version of the initial report of the event.

“The information about the tritiated leak at Monticello was publicly available — Xcel reported the leak to the State of Minnesota and to the NRC on November 22,” said US NRC Region III Sr. Public Affairs Officer Viktoria Mitlyng.  “The leak did not compromise plant or public safety. It did not exceed NRC limits and did not violate NRC requirements. While NRC inspectors at the site and specialists in the area of health physics continue to closely monitor the plant’s actions to identify, stop and remediate the leak, they continue to conclude that the leak did not pose a threat to the plant or the public.”

A review of the NRC’s website reflects the initial report, indicating “On 11/22/2022, Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant initiated a voluntary communication to the State of Minnesota after receiving analysis results for an on-site monitoring well that indicated tritium activity . . . “ reads part of the report.  “The source of the tritium is under investigation and the station will continue to monitor and sample accordingly . . . there was no impact on the health and safety of the public or plant personnel.”

What the initial report did not detail, however, was the amount of the water leak — something not required by law.  That, and the optics of a public information release nearly four months after the event, is what has led to some critics voicing concern about the reporting of the incident.

“Withholding information about a substantial leak from a nuclear plant has the appearance of a strategy to avoid public embarrassment,” Dr. Larry Jacobs, Professor at the U of MN’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs, shared via an emailed statement to the Patriot.  “The public has a right to know if their environment has experienced the leak, invite outside experts, and draw their own conclusions.”

Environmental groups have also voiced their displeasure with the timing of the public notification.

“Nuclear energy is an energy source with known safety risks,” said Margaret Levin, State Director for the Sierra Club North Star Chapter.   “Until we replace our reliance on nuclear power with clean, renewable energy, communities have a right to expect full and timely information about potential health threats. We expect better from Xcel and the state of Minnesota, including updates on the situation moving forward.”

Clark said that he understands how people hear the news of a leak at a nuclear plant and get worried, yet he maintains that the incident has not put the general public in danger.  He also said Xcel is reviewing its response to the situation.

“The more we worked with the state agencies and we were sharing our data . . . we were having a little more communication with some of the local officials in Monticello,” Clark said.  “Both the state agencies and Monticello encouraged us to go ahead and provide more information to the public.  When they made that request, then we did. As a company, that’s one of the things we’re taking a very close look at here.  We know we have a plant with multiple layers of systems to protect our workers, to protect the community, and that what we do there is extremely safe. We’re going to take a very careful look at what we did here and find places where we can share information in a better way that maybe provides an even greater level of transparency for our neighbors.”

Editor’s note:  The Patriot reached out last week to the MN Pollution Control Agency with a request for specific comments for this article, but they did not provide answers to our questions by our stated Tuesday evening editorial deadline.

Public Officials Respond to Xcel Water Leak

Over the past week, the Patriot reached out to local officials for their responses to last week’s public information release about the November 2022 tritiated water leak at Xcel’s Monticello Nuclear Plant.

Representative Shane Mekeland and Senator Andrew Mathews provided a joint statement saying they are “monitoring the situation and trying to gather more facts and information.”

In addition, they said “the evidence appears to show that the leak has not escaped Xcel’s property, and the Department of Health has said that there is no evidence of any threat to the public.”

Both legislators encouraged their constituents to reach out with any questions, as they will continue to seek answers from Xcel and the Department of Health.  They also noted that there is a great deal of information about tritium posted on the NRC website.

Clearwater Township Supervisor and Sierra Club Member Rose Thelen responded with concern, saying “the lack of timely public notification – with Xcel Energy and Minnesota state agencies waiting almost four months to share any information with the community – raises important questions about oversight and transparency.”

Monticello Mayor Lloyd Hilgart noted that the city learned about the extent of the water leak at the end of February 2023 and “since then, we have been working with Xcel and state and federal regulating agencies to understand the scope of the event, remediation, and any community impact. We have been and will continue to gather information to responsibly inform our community and have been requesting information be shared.”

Becker City Administrator Greg Lerud reported that his city was not notified of the leak and learned about it by reading reports in the media.

He said that the city’s closest well is over three and a half miles upstream from the Nuclear Plant, and based on the information they currently have, there is no concern of the tritium traveling to the city water source.  

“We have not been advised by the MN Department of Health to do any additional testing,” Lerud stated.

Senator Bruce Anderson noted “the tritium leak in Monticello is being actively monitored by our state agencies. To date, it appears the leak has not gone beyond Xcel’s facility. We have learned that Xcel Energy notified the Federal and State authorities immediately and identified and fixed the leak. The MN Department of Health has said that there is no evidence of any threat to the public.  As my fellow legislators and I work to gather additional information, I invite my constituents to contact my office with any questions they may have.”

Meanwhile, Representative Marion O’Neill responded to our request with this statement: “I think that truth and facts are what is most important. I have read outrageous and wildly inaccurate claims made by uninformed citizens on social media regarding the spill. I suggest that you report the facts about the leak.”

The Patriot will continue its reporting as needed in the coming weeks as more information becomes available.