Plutonium Pollution: Areva proposes to withdraw 25 m3 of land at the Hague

The plutonium pollution detected on land near Areva de la Hague plant, in channel, extends over 40 square meters, said on Thursday 5 October nuclear group. At a local Information Commission (CLI) in Beaumont-Hague, he proposed to Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) to remove 25 cubic metres of land on this surface.

The proposal is being instructed by nuclear gendarme. Subject to its authorisation, Areva hopes to start work by end of year.

Insufficient answer

These quantities are insufficient, says André quotation mark, responsible for dossier within Association for control of radioactivity in West (ACRO). It was this organization that denounced pollution at plutonium 239-240 and Americium 241 in October 2016. Areva had confirmed facts in January, but with different values.

According to nuclear group, if an adult or a 10-year-old child was exposed to this pollution for three hundred hours a year, ingested 10 grams of land and drank 100 milliliters of polluted water and bread a dust air at 0.5 mg/m3, its exposure would be Less than 9.5 microsievert. The recommended maximum annual threshold for public exposure is 1 millisivert, or 1 000 microsieverts.

Areva claims to have carried out this calculation on basis of Guide to potentially polluted sites of Ministry of Environment. But ACRO denounces a "100 000 times higher" exposure to what group calculates.