During the last 15 y, by the Saluggia (Vercelli, Italy) nuclear site, episodes of contamination of the superficial groundwater happened due to artificial radionuclides. The local network of radiological monitoring around the nuclear site, managed by Arpa Piemonte from the late 1980s, highlighted the presence of (60)Co, (90)Sr, (137)Cs and (3)H during this period. The object of this paper was to give particular evidence not to analytical aspects, but to the methodical approach used to solve the problems that arose. In fact, the intrinsic hydro-geological vulnerability of the zone, the typology and conditions of the plants (all very old) and the presence of the 'Acquedotto del Monferrato' tap water well field, one of the most important in Piemonte, at approximately 2 km downstream of the site, made the situation very difficult to approach.