Exelon says no harm in latest tritium leak at Morris nuke plant

MORRIS -- Exelon Corp. says routine monitoring has revealed a leak of water contaminated with radioactive tritium gas at a nuclear power plant.

Officials at the utility said there is no public safety hazard from last week's leak from the company's Dresden plant at the town of Morris.

Tritium is a radioactive form of hydrogen that occurs naturally in groundwater but is more concentrated in nuclear reactor cooling water.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says this leak is much different from a series of leaks dating to 1996 at Exelon's Braidwood nuclear power plant. That situation prompted a $5 million environmental study and led to stricter guidelines.