In addition,
Radioactive waste submerged atlantic still:
A team of scientists has mapped 3. Meanwhile, 350 drums of radioactive waste dropped at the bottom of the North Atlantic between 1946 and 1993 for a month. Similarly, They have not yet noted abnormal radioactivity, they said on Friday when they returned to Brest.
About fifty barrels were photographed in a variable state of conservation, with a corroded surface and colonized by anemones. Therefore, Lefits of unknown matter, probably bitumen, have also been noted on certain barrels.
There are almost intact barrels. Similarly, others extremely degraded
“There are almost intact and other extremely degraded barrels,” said Patrick Chardon, co-chief of the mission and nuclear metrology engineer (University of Clermont Auvergne, France). Similarly, “We do not know at all what was in it. There was no traceability at the time. ” he said, radioactive waste submerged atlantic still adding that it would be a priori low-activity waste, such as laboratory waste, treatment sludge or contaminated pipes.
The radiation protection measures have reported values of the same level as environmental background noise. But more laboratory measurements on sediments, water and fish must be made in the coming months.
1000 km southwest of Brest – Radioactive waste submerged atlantic still
Led on the ship of the French oceanographic fleet L’Atalante. this expedition called Nodssum aimed to map the main immersion area of thousands of radioactive waste barrels, immersed by European countries between 1946 and 1993.
These immersions were considered at the time as a normal solution for managing waste from the nuclear industry. More than 200. 000 barrels filled with radioactive waste has been thrown by several European states in the Abyssal Plaine of the North-East Atlantic Ocean, in international waters, more than 4,000 meters deep.
The mission explored a specific area located in international waters, 1000 km southwest of radioactive waste submerged atlantic still Brest and 650 km northwest of Corogne (Spain). The researchers were able to scrutinize the area thanks to the Sonar with very high resolution of the Autonomous Submersible Ulyx of Ifremer. which carried out on this occasion its first scientific mission. By making 16 dives, Ulyx was able to map 3350 was 163 km2.
Waste remains at the bottom of the ocean
Ultimately. the objective is not to raise these radioactive barrels, a solution “technologically possible but at absolutely monstrous cost”, explains Patrick Chardon. Depending on the results, “we will be able to estimate whether to do a closer assessment in the future”.
In June 1984. CEA and Ifremer had already carried out a photographic campaign on the same immersion area in the North Atlantic, 4,500 meters deep: six containers had been photographed and seemed intact but with brands of corrosion.
The team of scientists included researchers from the CNRS. the Institute for Research radioactive waste submerged atlantic still for Development (IRD) and others from the University of Bergen (Norway), the Thune Institute (Germany) or the Memorial University of Newfoundland (Canada).
Lia with AFP
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