BOSTON -- Amid reports of another possible leak in a buried pipe at a nuclear power plant, this time at Plymouth's Pilgrim Nuclear Station, U.S. Rep. Ed Markey is once again airing his concerns regarding the country's pipe inspection process.

"[It] is yet another disturbing reminder of the dangers lurking in the miles and miles of buried pipes within nuclear reactors that have never been inspected and will likely never be inspected," wrote Markey, a Democrat who heads the Energy and Environment Subcommittee, in a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

"This is simply unacceptable and cannot possibly be sufficient to ensure the safety of both the public and the planet," he added.

According to a report by the Boston Globe, elevated levels of tritium were detected by a groundwater monitoring well located between the plant in Plymouth and the Atlantic Ocean.

Detection of tritium, a radioactive isotope, is usually a red flag that signifies a leaking pipe at a nuclear power plant.

This revelation comes on the heels of no less than 32 other, separate tritium buildups that have already been identified by the NRC, the most recent occurrence being at the Vermont Yankee plant.

Markey called the potential for leaking pipes in Plymouth "not surprising," given the plant's old age and corrosive environmental location.

Markey is insistent that the current inspection process -- which he described as "physical inspections conducted only in those rare instances when pipes are dug out for other purposes" -- is not able to properly get the job done when dealing with similar systems to Plymouth's.

"Other industries have figured out how to inspect their buried pipes in a proactive and comprehensive fashion," Markey said. "How many more failures do the nuclear industry and the NRC need before they admit that aging buried systems need additional attention?"

Markey had previously requested an investigation of the tritium leak situation by the Government Accountability Office in January.