Scientist Edwin Lyman Explains Tritium

The news that Vermont Yankee failed to inform the public service board and lawmakers about the existence of underground pipes at the nuclear power plant has caused quite the stir at the State House and elsewhere around the state.

The discovery of tritium in a second monitoring well at the plant has only added fuel to the fire, and now comes the news tritium has been discovered at much higher levels than previously found in a test well almost two weeks ago.

Engineers are trying to pinpoint the source of the contaminated plume, meanwhile they say it appears to be headed toward the Connecticut River.

But just how worried should people be about these discoveries? To get to the science behind the headlines regarding tritium we got in touch with Dr. Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington. We start with the basic question, just what exactly is tritium?

Click listen to hear the interview.