GP Lodges Legal Complaint ; Measured Rad Discharge on French Bea

["greenbase" <greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org>]

GREENPEACE LODGES LEGAL COMPLAINT AFTER MEASURING HIGH     
LEVELS OF RADIATION FROM DISCHARGE PIPE ON FRENCH BEACH

CHERBOURG, April 8, 1997 - Greenpeace activists today lodged a
legal complaint and erected warming signs on a French public
beach near the COGEMA plutonium factory at Cap La Hague, after
finding its radioactive discharge pipe was exposed and
emitting high levels of radiation.

Using radiation detection equipment, the activists found that
the radiation emitted from the pipe was up to 3,500 times
higher than normal background levels.  At this heightened
level, individuals on land or on the water near the pipe could
receive within hours doses of radiation beyond the annual
limits set by the European Community.  The pipe will be fully
exposed at 4:OO PM today.

Greenpeace placed a banner saying: "Poisoned Seas and
Contaminated Coasts", "Stop Reprocessing at La Hague" and put
up signs warning the public away from the discharge pipe and
denouncing France and the countries which send their nuclear
waste to La Hague for reprocessing. Greenpeace activists held
the national flags of Belgium, Germany, Japan, the
Netherlands, and Switzerland to highlight the fact that
nuclear waste from those countries is being discharged into
the North Atlantic.

Greenpeace representatives also filed a complaint with the
Juges D'Instruction (Instructing Magistrate) in Cherbourg
demanding prosecution of the company and/or officials
involved. The environmental group has called on COGEMA,
France's state controlled plutonium industry, and its Belgian,
Dutch, German, Japanese and Swiss clients, to immediately
cease discharging nuclear waste into the sea.  Greenpeace has
charged that the pipe and its radioactive discharges pose
unacceptable hazards to the environment and public health.

"This is criminally negligent behavior," said Yannick
Rousselet of Greenpeace Cherbourg.  "This pipe is a direct
threat to the public, not only because of its exposure right
now, but also because it's continuously dumping tonnes of
radioactive waste into the sea, plutonium reprocessing is
wholly unjustified and must be stopped," said Rousselet.

This is the second time in less than one month that the
radioactive discharge pipe from the la Hague plutonium
separation or
"reprocessing" plant has been exposed on dry land by low-
tides.  In a confused response to public concern about the
pipe's last exposure on the beach on March 12, Patrick
Ledermann, the COGEMA Director of la Hague plant told the
press that this exposure was a once in a century event and
would not occur again for another 15 years.

"It is hard to say if COGEMA and Mr. Ledermann have tried to
mislead the public or if they are simply incapable of reading
tide tables," said Rousselet of Greenpeace.  "In either case,
these officials are clearly not acting in compliance with the
law nor with the need to protect the environment and public
health."

Besides taking action in the French court, Greenpeace is
calling on the European Ministers attending the September
meeting of the OSPAR Commission to require France to comply
with its international obligations to "reduce or eliminate
radioactive discharges in the marine environment."  OSPAR is
the intergovernmental commission which regulates marine
pollution in the Northeast Atlantic.  The next ministerial
meeting of the OSPAR Commission will take place in September
in Madrid. ---end---

For further information:
For more information: Yannick Rousselet, ++ 33-6-0858-0793     
                 Diederik Samsom, ++ 31-6-5310-6595  For
video/photographs: Laurence Marmet, ++ 33-1-5343-8585 
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