Abstract: In this paper, a systematic analysis of the radiological monitoring results for the waterborne environment that would possibly affected by liquid effluent release of 38 typical inland NPPs in USA during 2005—2012, including the sediment, surface water, drinking water and aquatic organisms, were presented. It was shown that the release of the liquid effluent would impact little on the radiological waterborne environment, except for the issue of tritium. For the inland nuclear power plant with receiving water of poor dilution and dispersion conditions, the cumulative tritium would be accumulated to a relative higher level, but lower than the guideline concentration in drinking water regulated by the US Environment Protection Agency (EPA). The conservative assessment of the radiological dose on public from the liquid effluent release was presented, and a conclusion can be drawn that the impact is really negligible compared to the background dose for the public in USA. The conclusion was confirmed by analyzing the regulation of US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the requirements of the detection limits and the reporting level for the radiological monitoring data.

Key words: USA, inland NPP, radiological impact, surface water, drinking water, tritium