Most folks in Mississippi have pole-fished using shiners (minnows) as bait. When I was a kid we would dipnet shiners beneath the old Mississippi River Bridge.

The Entergy Nuclear power plant at Grand Gulf has released, pumped and possibly leaked an unknown amount of tritium, the stuff that makes watches and such glow in dark, into the Mississippi River.

Vicksburgers do not worry, water flows downhill and Natchez, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans could have ‘night shiners’ that glow in the dark, but only for a decade or so, barring additional tritium discharges and leaks.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says “no problemo” though they have no idea how much was released or the source of the tritium. Seriously folks, this “leak” disrupted operations at the plant last week (Thursday or so) and was reported locally in an AP release nearly a week later.

Can Entergy and the NRC be trusted to provide timely information about problems at Grand Gulf? Rephrased, can the citizens of Japan trust their nuclear plant operators or their version of the NRC?

Jon Duke

Vicksburg