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Industry Committed to Safe Plant Operations
The nuclear energy industry is committed to operating its plants safely and protecting the surrounding environment. All employees of a nuclear power plant actively contribute to the safe operation of the facility. At each plant, radiation protection professionals on staff conduct extensive radiation monitoring of the plant site and the surrounding environment.

Plant design, operations and procedures focus on preventing unplanned releases. Each plant conducts an extensive environmental monitoring program required by the NRC to verify that no unforeseen radioactive releases have occurred. The agency requires the plants to list and describe unplanned releases in an annual report. In the event that one occurs, plant operators and radiation protection staff take immediate steps to stop and contain the release. Next, the affected area is monitored and remediated.

Background on Tritium
Tritium is a radioactive form of hydrogen. It is produced naturally in the upper atmosphere when cosmic rays strike atmospheric gases. It also is a byproduct of electricity generation at nuclear power plants, and it is produced commercially in concentrated quantities for use in such self-luminescent devices as exit signs, aircraft dials and wristwatches.

Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. Like nonradioactive hydrogen, tritium reacts with oxygen to form water. “Tritiated water” moves through the environment and the human body just as ordinary water does. Tritium decays over time and is one of the least hazardous radionuclides because it emits weak radiation and leaves the body relatively quickly.

The average American receives about 300 millirem from naturally occurring radiation each year. About 13 percent of this radiation comes from ingesting natural radioactivity in food and water.

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