Over 1,800 Radioactive Barrels Located off the Coast of Galicia

The French oceanographic expedition L'Atalante, aimed at assessing the state of the Atlantic Trench off the coast of Galicia, has identified over 600 additional radioactive barrels, adding to the 1,800 previously reported. Greenpeace estimates this number to be as high as 220,000. Javier Escartín, the director of the research conducted aboard the vessel, explained via the social network Bluesky that the submarine robot UlyX located more than 600 barrels, bringing the total to 1,800. Escartín also noted that the area had been surveyed in 1983 by a remotely operated French submarine, the 'Epaulard'.

Greenpeace highlights that the French scientific expedition "has revealed that radiation continues to contaminate the sea." The organisation emphasises that the European Union's refusal to investigate the current situation, prompting France to undertake the task independently, underscores the dangers of nuclear waste. Consequently, Greenpeace calls on the European Union and the Spanish Government to conduct investigations to determine the status of the 220,000 radioactive waste barrels in the Atlantic trench, located 700 kilometres off the Galician coast.

Following studies by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (Centre national de la recherche scientifique) aboard the oceanographic vessel 'L'Atalante', which uncovered the first 1,000 radioactive barrels, "a tiny fraction of these radioactive barrels present in the Atlantic trench," Greenpeace has urged both the European Union and the Spanish Government to take responsibility for determining "the state of the site with the highest concentration of radioactive waste on the planet."

Between the 1940s and 1980s, Dutch, Belgian, and British ships dumped radioactive waste in the Atlantic trench. It wasn't until 1982 that Greenpeace's ship 'Sirius', alongside Galician vessels, confronted Dutch ships to halt their dumping. It is estimated that the industry dumped 142,000 tonnes of nuclear waste. Upon its return, 10,000 people welcomed the 'Sirius' at the port of Vigo.

This action marked Greenpeace Spain's first peaceful protest, although it was not legally established as an organisation at the time. The action was a significant milestone, being one of the seeds that led to its founding in 1984, the environmental organisation explains in a statement.

The BNG has denounced "inaction and passivity" by the State Government regarding the "serious environmental problem" posed by the "nuclear cemetery" sunk in the Atlantic Trench off the Galician coast and has demanded an independent investigation into these radioactive wastes.

In a statement, BNG's deputy in Congress, Néstor Rego, has called on the Government to assume its responsibilities and initiate its own scientific mission to inspect and assess the condition of the more than 225,000 radioactive waste barrels deposited on the seabed for over four decades.

Néstor Rego has warned of the complete lack of surveillance and control over this area, where he notes that more than 140,000 tonnes of nuclear waste from eight European countries were dumped between 1949 and 1982, without any recent inspection by the Spanish State or steps taken to understand its environmental impact.

Galicia's PP deputies in Congress have also demanded explanations from the central Government regarding the thousand radioactive barrels located by a French scientific expedition in deep waters off the Galician coast.

They have done so through a series of questions directed at the ministries of Science, Foreign Affairs, and Ecological Transition, arguing that it is essential to know what information the Spanish Government possesses about this discovery "given that it is a matter of great sensitivity for the population and could directly affect the environmental quality of the marine environment, food security (due to its relation to fishing activities), and public health."

The Government's delegate in Galicia, Pedro Blanco, highlights that the central Government remains "in constant contact" with the French expedition searching for radioactive barrels off the coast of Galicia, which he considers an "opportune" investigation. "We will try to find a solution," he assures regarding these wastes.

He recalls that these barrels were dumped for decades in the 20th century, when "the awareness was probably entirely different." "Of course, the Spanish Government is concerned," he made clear.