Tritium leak into drinking H2O supply

There's been a leak of 73,000 litres (size of average pool) of Tritium into Lake ON (source of drinking water for 6 million of us in Toronto) from the Pickering Nuclear Power Plant - due to a failed pump seal.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/03/16/pickering-nuclear-leak.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/regulator-reports-water-leak-at-pickering-nuclear-plant/article1944271/

Tritium is a radioactive form (isotope) of hydrogen. By mixing tritium with a chemical that emits light in the presence of radiation, a phosphor, a continuous light source is made (as those found on watch dials). The radioactive decay product of tritium cannot penetrate the outer layer of human skin. The main hazard associated with tritium is internal exposure from inhalation or ingestion. http://www.physics.isu.edu/radinf/tritium.htm

Ontario’s current Standard of 7,000 Becquerels per Litre (Bq/L) for Tritium in Drinking Water was adopted from Health Canada’s 1995 Canadian Drinking Water Quality Guidelines, and was made an enforceable Maximum Acceptable Concentration (MAC) in 2003 via Ontario Regulation 169/03 (Ontario Drinking Water Quality Standards).

http://www.odwac.gov.on.ca/standards_review/tritium/tritium.htm

The United States standard is: 740 Bq/L (US Safe Drinking Water Act).

For years Kara and I lived near Rocky Flats (nuclear weapons production plant – DOE & Dow Chemical, Rockwell Intl) before and during its cleanup. One of my former parishioners worked as part of the clean up effort of nuclear waste & by-products. Various contaminant incidents occurred over the decades (leaks of PCB, chromic acid, dioxin CCL4, beryllium, plutonium, actinide, and tritium).

In other words, we are no strangers to such incidents. Here's what I've learned. When you've lived near Rocky Flats you take no corporation (e.g., Dow Chemical & Rockwell) or government agency (DOE) at their word. Their job is to put a positive spin on the situation no matter what. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Flats_Plant

Happy St. Patrick's Day? Perhaps today I ought to shower in Guinness.