Wolseong nuclear power plant groundwater tritium pollution serious?… US NRC standards exceeded

Groundwater radioactivity level at the boundary of the nuclear power plant site
3 times the US NRC standard… Possibility of external leakage
KHNP “Recovery treatment of high concentration contaminated water”
Not knowing the exact leak point is a big problem
Citizens and environmental groups request joint investigation

– Civic and environmental organizations and the ruling Democratic Party are raising their voices saying that it is a serious situation and that a detailed investigation is necessary.

On the other hand, KHNP’s side showed that there was a leak, but it was not leaked to the outside so it was not a big problem.
The opposition, the People’s Power, criticized the ruling party as “the investigation of the Wolseong nuclear power plant and spreading systematic fake news.”

Which one is right? How serious is the groundwater pollution at the Wolseong nuclear power plant site?

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On the 13th, members of the Democratic Party held a press conference at the National Assembly regarding the detection of tritium at the Wolseong nuclear power plant, and announced that they would take measures at the party level.[더불어민주당 양이원영 의원실]

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On the morning of the 12th, members of the People’s Power of the Science and Technology Information Broadcasting and Communications Commission, including Rep. Park Seong-joong, held a press conference at the Communication Hall of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul and urged to stop spreading fake news related to the Wolseong nuclear power plant. They argued that “tritium, a radioactive substance, was detected at the Wolseong nuclear power plant,” the Democratic Party representative Lee Nak-yeon said on the previous day, “investigating the Wolseong nuclear power plant and spreading systematic fake news.” News 1

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The start of the controversy is the public KHNP report

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Wolseong Unit 1. [연합뉴스]

– The controversy began in a 26-page report written by KHNP in June of last year on the management status of groundwater tritium in the Wolseong nuclear power plant site and action plan.

Particularly problematic in this report is that in April 2019, levels of tritium radioactivity of 713,000 becquerels per liter were measured in the water in the manhole near Wolseong Unit 3.

Becquerel (Bq) is a measure of radioactivity.
Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, and its nucleus is made up of one proton and two neutrons, which is about three times heavier than hydrogen made up of one proton.

Environmental organizations, some media, and ruling parties expressed concern that 713,000 Bq/L would far exceed 40,000 Bq/L of KHNP’s groundwater drainage system management standard.

In response, KHNP said in the explanation data on the 11th, “The report that 713,000 Bq was detected was temporarily detected at one specific point (underground drainage pipe under the turbine building) within the nuclear power plant, not in the area around the power plant. No, it was immediately recovered to the liquid waste system and disposed of according to the procedure.”

It is explained that some leakage may occur due to the structure of a nuclear power plant, and in the water drained to a drainage channel, an amount of 40,000 Bq or less per liter is legally permitted, that is, by the Nuclear Safety Commission notification (emission control standard).

However, Lee Jeong-yoon, CEO of’Nuclear Safety and Future’, said, “It was recovered, but the problem is that there is a leak somewhere in the nuclear power plant system,” he said. “There is a possibility that tritium was released into the atmosphere while it was stagnating, affecting the residents.” .

Controversy over groundwater observation well pollution standards

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Groundwater observation well and maximum concentration of tritium in Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant (unit: Bq/L). Source: Joint Action for Post-Nuclear Race Citizens

– In the vicinity of the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant, radioactivity is measured once a month in the’guard well’ and once a quarter in the’surveillance well’ and’site boundary well’ to monitor unplanned outflow of radioactive material, that is, unintended outflow.

Sentry wells are groundwater wells installed to quickly detect unplanned outflows from systems and structures with high risk of groundwater contamination.
A monitoring well is a well installed in the site to monitor the distribution of pollution, and a’site boundary well’ is a well installed to monitor whether unplanned spills move outside the site.

The maximum concentration of tritium radioactivity measurements in 27 wells released on the 12th by the Denuclear Race Citizens’ Joint Action is ▶Up to 28,200 Bq/L in sentry wells ▶Up to 3770 Bq/L in surveillance wells ▶Up to 1320 Bq/L in site-bound wells Measured to L.

KHNP applies the discharge management standard of 40,000 Bq/L for sentry wells, and 4000 Bq/L, which is one tenth of the management standard for monitoring wells and site-bound wells, and explains that it is within this standard.
In particular, considering that the World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water standard is 10,000 Bq/L, it is not a big problem even if groundwater outside the site of a nuclear power plant is contaminated with tritium.

However, the standards of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) are much stricter.

In 2013, a paper published in the journal of the Radiation Protection Society of the KHNP Central Research Institute, “Analyzing the Status of Groundwater Pollution and Monitoring Technology at Overseas Nuclear Power Plant Sites by Unplanned Emissions,” said, “In NRC, when groundwater in the site is used as drinking water, the tritium concentration is The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates to be less than the drinking water limit of 740 Bq/L, and when not used as drinking water, it is regulated to be less than 1110 Bq/L.”

If this 1110Bq/L standard is applied, not only the guard well, but also the surveillance well and part of the site boundary well cannot be left unattended.

In particular, the high level in the wells at the site boundary indicates the possibility of radioactive material flowing out of the site.

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Unit 1 of Wolseong nuclear power plant in Yangnam-myeon, Gyeongju-si (right). yunhap news

– The NRC introduced the standard after a leak incident occurred at a nuclear power plant in Braidwood, Illinois in 2005, and surveyed all nuclear power plants in the United States for groundwater contamination due to unplanned discharge.

At that time, 8325~9250 Bq/L was detected in the well in the site of the Braidwood nuclear power plant, but only 52~59 Bq/L was detected in the resident well, so it was judged that there was no major harm to the residents.

The US nuclear power plant was generally better than the Wolseong nuclear power plant, but the NRC established countermeasures.

In this regard, KHNP said, “As a result of analyzing groundwater at the environmental monitoring point last year, insignificant 4.8 Bq was detected in the Bongil area around the Wolseong nuclear power plant, so it is not judged that the groundwater contaminated with radioactivity has spread outside the site of the nuclear power plant.”
It is argued that no unplanned outflow has been confirmed so far.

How did you find out about the tritium leak?

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Wolseong nuclear power plant radioactive material leakage estimate. Source: Dong-A-Democratic Party Congressman Lee Won-young

– High levels of tritium are detected in collection wells (up to 530,000 Bq/L), drains, and groundwater in the Wolseong nuclear power plant site.

It was first known in 2018 that tritium is leaking from the Wolseong nuclear power plant site.

With the installation of the filtration and exhaust system (CFVS) in the containment buildings of Wolseong Units 2-4, we reviewed the construction of the CFVS of Unit 1 in 2012, and an official from the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) found that there was a problem with the construction in 2012. found.

In 2012, during the geotechnical construction of Unit 1’s CFVS facility, seven steel pipes were installed, and two of them were belatedly confirmed that they had penetrated between the walls of the spent fuel storage tank and the order wall.

KHNP’s side, which recognized that the PVC (polyvinyl chloride) barrier on the floor was damaged, has operated a groundwater monitoring program from June 2019, and prepared a report on the’action plan’ in June of last year with the results.

Regarding this, CEO Jeong-yoon Lee said, “The fact that the groundwater under the PVC water film is contaminated means that there is already a problem with the walls of the storage tank, and leaks have occurred,” he said. “I used a waterproof epoxy liner on the concrete wall, but the epoxy liner swelled, hardened and torn by radiation and leaked. I can see it.”
To solve the problem, the reservoir must be replaced with stainless steel rather than concrete.

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Members, including Park Jang-dong, joint representative of the post-nuclear Ulsan Citizens’ Joint Action, held a press conference at the Ulsan City Hall press center on the morning of the 13th, and urged the formation of a joint public-private investigation committee regarding the suspension of operation of units 2, 3 and 4 of the Wolseong nuclear power plant in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and radioactive leakage. News 1

– Lee Sang-hong, executive chairman of the co-action for post-nuclear race citizens, argued, “This report was released at the end of last year, and it has nothing to do with the prosecution’s investigation into the closure of Wolseong nuclear power plant No. 1”.

Chairman Lee emphasized, “It is necessary to establish fundamental measures such as checking the exact location of the leak and preventing the leak, and joint investigation including private experts is urgent.”

How dangerous is tritium

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Wolseong Unit 1 (far right) stopped operating at Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant in Yangnam-myeon, Gyeongju-si. yunhap news

– Looking at the matters related to the Wolsong nuclear power plant that KHNP revealed in the ‘2019 Environmental Radiation Investigation and Evaluation Report’, the amount of radioactive material that went into the atmosphere in 2019 was 1.16 trillion Bq, of which 94.35% was tritium.
In addition, the amount of radioactive materials discharged in liquid form such as cooling water was 3.13 trillion Bq, 99.77% tritium.

Radioactive substances released by the’plan’ reach residents through air, rainwater, soil, sea, crops and shellfish.

For example, in a rainwater sample collected near Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant on July 31, 2019, 74 Bq per liter of tritium was detected, and KHNP said, “The tritium discharged from the power plant (from sea to land) is “Because it was collected as it rained a lot in the middle,” he explained.

The amount of radiation exposed by residents near Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant according to planned emissions during 2019 was estimated at a maximum of 0.03895 millisieverts (m㏜).

KHNP’s side is 3.9% of the annual effective dose limit of 1 m㏜ to the public under Article 2 No. 4 of the Enforcement Decree of the Nuclear Safety Act, and 15.58% of the standard value of 0.25 m㏜, which is applied when operating multiple nuclear-related facilities in the same site. Explained.

To this, the amount of exposure due to unplanned leakage, which has become a problem this time, should be added, but it is not known exactly at this time, so an investigation is necessary.

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The half-life of tritium in the body analyzed for nuclear power plant workers. After about 10 days, it was found to decrease by half. Source: Korea Electric Power Research Institute (Journal of the Radiation Protection Society, 2009)

– On the other hand, it is known that tritium that has entered the body is released again and is reduced to half after about 10 days.

Staff Reporter Kang Chansu [email protected]



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