DOE tests find no tritium in 2 NTS wells

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Monday, May 15, 2000 | 11:20 a.m.

The Department of Energy did not find any tritium, a radioactive element that dissolves easily in water, at two wells near Pahute Mesa at the Nevada Test Site.

Samples from the wells were collected in January and February, Bob Bangerter, project manager for the DOE's underground sampling program, said.

"The results indicate no tritium was detected," Bangerter said.

The DOE was following up on a discovery in July of higher-than-expected radiation levels in a well a mile away from Test Site property.

The DOE had found radiation on the Test Site property 10 years ago from a 1960s nuclear experiment called Schooner. The movement of radiation from that site would be cause for concern.

The DOE's search for tritium was the first step in an attempt to discover whether the radiation found outside the Test Site is from bombs. Tritium that is thousands of years old likely formed after cosmic rays struck the Earth. Young tritium is probably from nuclear weapons blasts.