SAN ONOFRE - A spokesman for the San Onofre nuclear power plant said today that a leak of about 10,000 gallons of radioactive water from a retired reactor hasn't threatened public safety.

The water containing tritium from nuclear fission was discovered last week in soils under a containment building as the reactor was being dismantled, said Ray Golden. High levels of tritium can cause cancer.

Golden said preliminary testing showed the concentration amount was lower than the maximum annual discharge allowed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

"It's not an active leak that's going on now," the spokesman said. "These are very low levels of radiation exposure. It's not a surprise that this is there. We've operated a nuclear plant there for 24 years."

Golden said the contaminated water was dumped into the Pacific Ocean about 1 1/2 miles from the coastal plant, which is about a quarter mile from San Onofre Beach in the Camp Pendleton area.

"It will mix with the ocean water, and not appreciably change the ocean," Golden said.

The nearest drinking water is an uphill well about two miles away on Camp Pendleton, Golden said.

"We've tested the well, and we have not found anything at the well," he said.

The reactor was retired in 1992. Crews began taking it apart in 1999.

It isn't known when the leak began. Golden said the earliest it could have started was 1992.

Attempts are being made to find where the tritium came from, and the plant operator is going forward with a groundwater effort to find out about leaks and document them, the spokesman said.

Although the plant is about 150 yards from the ocean, no recreational activity is allowed on the beach in front of San Onofre.

Crews are removing all water, soils, sands and other materials from the retired reactor area for proper disposal of radioactive material, Golden said.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/08/16/news/coastal/13_02_077_15_06.txt