PICKERING - Officials say a water leak at Pickering's nuclear power plant east of Toronto does not pose any significant threats to public health.

The leak is attracting attention in the wake of the nuclear crisis in Japan following last week's earthquake and ensuing tsunami.

But both the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and Ontario Power Generation say the radiological risk to people's health and the environment is negligible.

The commission said 73,000 litres of demineralized water was released from the Pickering A generating station around 11:30 p.m. Monday night.

The leak was caused by pump seal failure, the commission said.

Ontario Power Generation says the release was immediately stopped upon discovery and the pump seal is being replaced.

It said the filtered water contained trace amounts of tritium, far below any regulatory limits.

"This is a very low level event. There is no impact to quality of drinking water," Ontario Power Generation said in a statement.

The safety commission and Environment Canada are monitoring the situation.