Recently we read some disturbing reports out of Canada describing elevated levels of tritium being discharged from Canadian nuclear reactors.  CANDU reactors release a lot more tritium than American reactors (by factor of 20) and do not operate under stricter NRC standards

The result is a dangerous discharge into the environment of tritium, a highly poisonous radioactive contaminate, similar in toxicity to radon.  But unlike radon, not much is known about tritium.  Apparently, this is really some bad stuff; a low energy level beta emitter, which means that if it’s ingested, you’re in a world of hurt.

When tritium decays it releases a beta particle, a high-speed electron, measured at one negative electron volt.  Doesn’t sound like much but this little bullet can really screw up your cellular structure, scramble important proteins, and generally make your body’s biochemistry an unpredictable life-or-death crap shoot.

What can be done?  Keeping a Geiger counter around can help, but once tritiated water is in your body, often it is too late to detect since beta particles are relatively slow and can be shielded even by human skin.
Experts suggest a tight control on all drinking water including the periodic measurement of tap water and so-called “pure” bottled water by a sensitive radiation detector.

As a an anti-tritium activist blogger recently expressed it “releasing tritium into the environment IS murder.”