Radioactive material leaks into groundwater near New York City

Radioactive material has leaked into the groundwater below the Indian Point nuclear power plant near New York City, prompting New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to call for a federal investigation into the incident.

Entergy, which operates the nuclear facility, had reported that three monitoring wells had shown presence of radioactive materials at alarming levels, with the level in one well indicating an increase from 12,300 picocuries per litre to more than 8,000,000 picocuries per litre.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the maximum level of tritium contamination level should not exceed 20,000 picocuries per litre.

Entergy has stated that only groundwater has been affected and not the drinking water, reported The Guardian.

The facility also indicated that the contamination would not pose a threat to public health as it did not migrate beyond the site.

Nevertheless, this has drawn a lot of criticism from many, including the governor.

In a statement, Cuomo said, "This latest failure at Indian Point is unacceptable. This is not the first such release of radioactive water at Indian Point.

"This failure continues to demonstrate that Indian Point cannot continue to operate in a manner that is protective of public health and the environment"

Though tritium cannot penetrate the skin, it can cause cancer.

The governor had called upon the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Department of Health to probe the incident.

"Our first concern is for the health and safety of the residents close to the facility and ensuring the groundwater leak does not pose a threat," Cuomo said.

The plant is about 35 miles from New York City with 40 monitoring wells.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesperson Neil Sheehan was quoted by nydailynews.com as saying that the leak of radioactive materials into the wells occurred after a drain overflowed during a regular maintenance exercise.

The plant has two nuclear reactors and supplies 30% of the power to the New York City.