 U.S. nuclear plant admits to radioactive leak. The authorities in the northern U.S. state of Minnesota revealed that a nuclear power plant near Minneapolis had suffered a radioactive water spill amounting to over 1.5 million litres. X cell energy, which owns the Monticello nuclear generating plant, is working to clean up the spill and insists there is no danger to the general public. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, MPCA, said that around 400,000 gallons of tritiated water leaked from a broken pipe at the facility. The leak was first discovered on November 22 and its source was found on December 19 and patched soon after. The authorities decided to keep the public in the dark about the incident while X cell energy and the state were actively managing the situation to prevent the underground plume of irradiated water from spreading to the nearby Mississippi River. MPCA Assistant Commissioner Kirk Kudelka told the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Now that we have all the information about where the leak occurred, how much was released into the groundwater and that contaminated groundwater had moved beyond the original location, we are sharing this information. MPCA spokesman Michael Rafferty added on Thursday, This does not present a public health or drinking water issue. Christopher Clark, X cell's president for Minnesota said, He admitted the tritiated water is well above the 20,000 picocuries standard mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency being in the millions, directly below the plant. The city of Monticello issued a statement saying its drinking water supply was not affected by the leak, which happened outside the area from which they draw groundwater for municipal wells. The contaminated water has not been detected beyond the plant's perimeter. Kudel told KMSP TV, An estimated 25% of the water has been recovered and pumped into a treatment system on site. The company is considering building storage tanks or a retention pond for the project, which could take a year or more.