In December 1996, elevated concentrations of the radioactive isotope tritium were discovered in a groundwater monitoring well near the High Flux Beam Reactor at Brookhaven National Laboratory. This detection led The Department of Energy to launch an intensive investigation.
Data points to the reactor spent fuel pool as the source of the tritium plume.
The highest concentration of tritium in the groundwater is located near the reactor and is about 32 times the Environmental Protection Agency's standard for drinking water. The plume extends about 2200 feet south of the reactor. The current sources of drinking water for laboratory employees and the surrounding community are not affected by the plume of tritiated water. At the direction of DOE, Brookhaven has designed and installed an interim remediation system to pump tritiated water from the leading edge of the plume to a recharge basin east of the reactor. All spent fuel will be removed from the storage pool and all water from the reactor will be placed in tanks to remove the source of the groundwater contamination.