Scientists Find 200,000 Atlantic Waste Barrels Leaking Radionuclides 3 Miles Deep
Updated
Updated · Earth.com · Aug 8
Scientists Find 200,000 Atlantic Waste Barrels Leaking Radionuclides 3 Miles Deep
2 articles · Updated · Earth.com · Aug 8
Summary
20 dives by the Nautile submersible in May-June gave scientists their first close-up view of heavily corroded radioactive-waste barrels, with some contents visibly spilled onto mud on the Northeast Atlantic seafloor.
On-site instruments detected cobalt-60, niobium-94, cesium-137 and americium-241 above expected local levels, indicating waste-linked contamination but not yet proving ecological harm.
Several barrels had become habitat for anemones, sponges and crabs, prompting sampling of water, sediment, microbes, fish and crustaceans to test whether radionuclides are entering deep-sea food webs.
The site holds more than 200,000 barrels dumped by several European countries in the postwar decades; historical disposal plans assumed metal containers would only delay, not permanently prevent, release.
Months of lab work are still needed to separate barrel leakage from background fallout and accidents, while OSPAR uses the NODSSUM findings to refine knowledge of the historic dumping grounds.