Environmental impact of nuclear power 20 other US nuclear plants in recent years, has kindled doubts about the reliability, durability, and maintenance of aging nuclear installations in the United States. Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that emits a low-energy beta particle and is usually measured in becquerels (i.e. atoms decaying per second) per liter (Bq/L). Tritium can be contained in water released from a nuclear plant. The primary concern for tritium release is the presence in drinking water, in addition to biological magnification leading to tritium in crops and animals consumed for food. Tritium, the mass 3 isotope of hydrogen is deliberately created
Tritium 65 nuclear sites in the US. In one case, leaking water contained of tritium per litre, which is 375 times the EPA limit for drinking water. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission states that in normal operation in 2003, 56 pressurized water reactors released of tritium (maximum: 2,080 Ci; minimum: 0.1 Ci; average: 725 Ci) and 24 boiling water reactors released (maximum: 174 Ci; minimum: 0 Ci; average: 27.7 Ci), in liquid effluents. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, self-illuminating exit signs improperly disposed in municipal landfills have been recently found out to contaminate waterways. The legal limits for tritium