ILLEGAL RADIOACTIVE PARTICLES DISCOVERED IN COGEMA'S LIQUID WASTE DISCHARGE; GREENPEACE SEEKS IMMEDIATE COURT ACTION TO HALT CONTAMINATION

Paris, France 2 October 1997

Greenpeace revealed today that nuclear particles larger than 63 microns were captured during a scientific sampling FROM Cogema's discharge pipe, while the Discharge Authorization from 1980 states that no particle larger than 25 microns can be discharged by the reprocessing plant. The environmental organisation has announced that it has begun a legal procedure to stop Cogema's persistent violation of its own discharge authorisation.

Greenpeace installed a scientific watersampler at the end of La Hague's discharge pipe, situated at 28 metres depth off the Normandy coast, in the Atlantic Ocean. The water sampler pumped discharge effluent through a filter in which radioactive particles much larger than the levels authorised were isolated. They contained dangerous radioactive isotopes, such as Americium-241, Cobalt-60 and Cesium-137.

"The research and the analysis make it absolutely clear that Cogema is illegally discharging radioactive particles, which can be dangerous for human health. We demand the immediate cessation of discharges", said Diederik Samsom of Greenpeace International. The filter-sampling under the full inspection of a legal witness (bailiff) who submitted his report to the prosecutor in Cherbourg The analysis of the samples has been conducted by the independent laboratory ACRO.

By discharging large radioactive particles, Cogema is not only violating its discharge permit, but is causing a serious potential health hazard. "The sampled particles from the La Hague reprocessing operations contained Cobalt-60, Cesium-137 and Americium-241. These particles present a significant health hazard if ingested by humans directly or via consumption of seafood", said Professor Frank Barnaby, nuclear physicist and specialist in the use of medical isotopes, who was formerly physicist on The UK nuclear weapon programme.

On Wednesday, Greenpeace presented its case to the prosecutor in Cherbourg who immediately accepted the charge and set an urgent Court hearing for the beginning of next week at latest. In Court, Greenpeace will demand that Cogema stops discharging immediately, at least until this particle issue is solved.

Since May this year Greenpeace sampling operations have uncovered a series of major environmental problems around Cogema's discharge pipe. These have included large-scale nuclear contamination of the seabed; an under water storage site for nuclear waste only 250 metres from a public beach; and a large spillage of very radioactive crust from the inside of the pipe. Only last week Greenpeace published results of analysis conducted on crab samples collected in the area around the pipe. The levels of radioactivity found in the crabs were above European Commission recommended levels for foodstuffs.

"The fact that Cogema discharges hundreds of millions of radioactive particles a year is for Greenpeace the most alarming discovery so far. It shows that Cogema's irresponsible behaviour is not limited to their temporary cleaning operation, but has been going on for the last decades. All of Cogema's clients in France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland are directly responsible for this disaster, and should cancel their reprocessing contracts. We are determined to stop this ongoing madness in court", said Diederik Samsom of Greenpeace International. end

For further information please contact:

Diederik Samsom, Greenpeace International, mobile +31-6-531 06 595

Shaun Burnie, Greenpece International, mobile +31 6 535 00 782