French Expedition Confirms Leakage From 200,000 Atlantic Waste Barrels After 20 Deep-Sea Dives
Updated
Updated · geekspin · Aug 10
French Expedition Confirms Leakage From 200,000 Atlantic Waste Barrels After 20 Deep-Sea Dives
2 articles · Updated · geekspin · Aug 10
Summary
Several radioactive-waste barrels on the Northeast Atlantic seabed had spilled into surrounding mud, a French expedition found after 20 Nautile dives below 15,400 feet from May 27 to June 28.
On-site readings detected radionuclides above background levels, with cobalt-60 and niobium-94 providing the clearest evidence the leakage came from the dumped waste itself.
About 200,000 barrels were dumped at the site in the late 20th century; France alone accounted for more than 46,000 in 1967 and 1969, and researchers are still tracing which countries dumped which containers.
The waste was low-level material sealed in metal with concrete or bitumen, and researchers say the disposal strategy likely assumed gradual leakage and ocean dispersal rather than permanent containment.
Months of lab work on sediment, water and organism samples will now test the form and extent of contamination, including whether anemones, sponges and crabs colonizing the barrels absorbed radionuclides.