ACCESS TO LA HAGUE RESTRICTED FOLLOWING EVIDENCE OF RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Paris, 10 July 1997

Greenpeace today welcomed the announcement by Dominique Voynet, the French Environment Minister, that access to the area around the discharge-pipe of La Hague reprocessing plant would be restricted. The decision to close the area around the pipe to fishing and bathing follows the results of independent analysis on samples from La Hague conducted by the Department of Labour, Health and Social Services of the Federal State of Hamburg.

The analysis confirmed Greenpeace's warning that the effluent and sediment samples are radioactive waste. According to the analysis of the German Institute, the effluent contains up to 160 million becquerel of tritium per litre. The measured plutonium concentration also classifies the sediments as "waste containing nuclear fuel", and German law prohibits discharging such waste at sea.

" The sea and the beach at La Hague are clearly being mistreated as a nuclear waste dump" said Simon Carroll of Greenpeace International.

However, Greenpeace is concerned that radioactive discharges continue. "We welcome this first vital step to protect public health, but now expect that the authorities will protect the environment by stopping all discharges", added Carroll.

La Hague's permission to discharge radioactive waste into the sea is currently being re-evaluated, with a decision by French authorities expected by September. Greenpeace urges the re-evaluation not to be rushed and reiterates its demands for a full public environmental impact assessment of all the operations at La Hague, including COGEMA's proposal to scrap accumulated radioactive material from the inside of the pipe after years of waste discharging.

The environmental organisation also welcomes the ratification by France of the Convention for the protection of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR Convention ) announced today. Greenpeace will seek that France acts in accordance with its legal obligations under the Ospar Convention to take "all possible steps to prevent and eliminate pollution "(1) of the marine environment. end

For Further Information Please Contact:

Simon Carroll, Greenpeace International,
tel: +31 20 52 36 288

Remi Parmentier, Greenpeace International,
tel: +34 1 329 10 49

NOTE:

(1) Art. 2.1. (a) of the Ospar Convention