In the depths of the North Atlantic, several hundred kilometers from the Galician coast, one of the largest landfills of Europe's nuclear wasteThis legacy, a direct consequence of old industrial and nuclear practices in several European countries, had remained relatively forgotten until recently, when a French scientific expedition began to shed light on the current state of these residues and their possible environmental impact on the marine environment.
The news of the findings has generated deep concern among authorities, environmental organizations and citizens, who demand more information and clear measures to monitor and study the effects of this waste. The image of thousands of drums abandoned under the sea highlights the magnitude of a problem that is still prevalent and is now being studied with much more advanced tools and technology than in past decades.
A legacy buried at sea: the origin of the spills
Between the late 1990s and XNUMX, more than 200.000 barrels of radioactive material were thrown to the bottom of the Atlantic Trench, at depths reaching 4.500 meters. Countries such as United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Germany and Italy They resorted to the practice of disposing of their nuclear waste in international waters, often without any real monitoring protocols.
These discharges, carried out systematically for decades, have turned the area into a real submarine nuclear cemeteryMost of this waste comes from civilian facilities, laboratories, and byproducts of nuclear energy use, although the exact composition and state of the drums' contents remains a mystery to current science.
First findings of the French expedition and scientific advances
In June 2025, an expedition led by the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) deployed the oceanographic vessel Atalante in the area. To meet this challenge, the team has the UlyX underwater robot, equipped with advanced sonar systems and cameras capable of operating at great depths. In just a few weeks, the team has already located and mapped More than 2.000 drums distributed over 120 square kilometers, although this area represents only a small fraction of the total estimated submerged waste.
The mission, which involves scientists from various specialties, is collecting samples of water, marine mud and fauna, searching for evidence of radioactivity and possible effects on the ecosystem Deepwater. So far, those responsible for the study have not detected worrying levels of radioactivity on the surface, although they warn that detailed laboratory analysis and future dives will provide more precise data. The second phase of the project plans to approach the barrels more directly and use new technologies to take specific samples at the most critical points.
Social impact, institutional pressure and political demands
The progress of the investigation has rekindled the concern of both regional and state authorities. Xunta de Galicia has requested all available information from the central government, while MEPs from different parties have submitted questions to the European Commission about the exact nature and potential impact of the waste.
El Nuclear Safety Council Spanish has reported that no significant increases in radioactivity have been observed on the Galician and Cantabrian coasts, and has stressed that Spain did not make any discharges in the area nor has direct responsibility for them. However, this situation has not lessened the concern, and the regional level insists on the need for a greater transparency and monitoring of the results of the scientific expedition.
Greenpeace and the role of civil society
Environmental organizations such as Greenpeace They have been denouncing the risk of these spills for decades and demanding that both the European Union as the Spanish Government take concrete measures in this regard. The ship's action Sirius In 1982, along with the participation of Galician ships to prevent further discharges, marked a turning point in public awareness and international pressure against this type of discharge. This mobilization led the Dutch government to cease the discharges and laid the groundwork for international agreements such as the OSPAR Convention (1992) and London Convention (1993), which today prohibit radioactive discharges into the sea.
The waste already deposited remains on the seabed, and the lack of a coordinated research and removal effort is a cause for concern. The latest French expedition has once again highlighted the dangers of the submerged nuclear waste and the need for international cooperation to address this challenge.
The persistence of this nuclear waste in the Atlantic represents an environmental, political, and social problem. The Galician community and numerous European institutions are now expressing their concern, forcing a rethinking of the management and monitoring of these old dumpsMeanwhile, science is slowly advancing to understand the real consequences they have had and continue to have on the marine ecosystem.
