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Jan 16, 2007 7:28 pm US/Eastern
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Indian Point Nuclear Plant In Fishy Controversy
Problems Begin After Radioactive Material Found In Fish
by Tony Aiello
BUCHANAN, N.Y. (CBS) ―
The latest controversy involving the Indian Point nuclear power plant focuses on fish.
Preliminary testing showed detectable levels of strontium-90, a radioactive isotope, in a handful of fish pulled from the Hudson River, the
Journal News reported on Tuesday.
The plant, which sits on the banks of the Hudson, has been leaking strontium-90 from a pool where it stores spent fuel rods.
The group leading a campaign to shut down Indian Point believes there's a connection, and a cause for concern.
"It's far, far too early to be alarmist," said Lisa Rainwater, Indian Point Campaign director for Riverkeeper. "But what we're looking at now, if it's in the fish, that means it's also been contaminating the soil, the sediment, the plankton."
Riverkeeper believes that ultimately, the entire eco-system of the Hudson is at stake, if additional testing shows higher than expected levels of strontium-90 in fish, crabs, and shellfish.
But Entergy, the company that operates the plant, said there is little cause for concern. The radioactive isotope was found in four of twelve fish tested by Entergy.
"Strontium-90 is something we see in the environment, it's everywhere in the environment," said Jim Steets, a spokesperson for the company. "The sampling that we're seeing is basically what you'd expect whether Indian Point was there or not."
Steets said that any strontium-90 in the fish is so-called "background" radiation, left over from nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s and 60s.
The nuclear industry typically does not test for strontium-90 below 300 picocuries per kilogram, said Steets. Entergy tested for levels at the very limits of detectability, and found strontium-90 levels as small as 19 picocuries per kilogram. A curie, named for scientist Marie Curie, is a unit used to describe the intensity of radioactivity in a sample of material. A picocurie is equivalent to one one-trillionth of a curie.
"The Department of Environmental Conservation says this is consistent with background (radiation)," Steets said. "We're confident what we're seeing in the fish is not correlated at all with Indian Point."
Riverkeeper said it will continue to press for answers and additional testing of fish and other aquatic life in the Hudson.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)