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Champagne Threatened By Radioactive Leak
France's world-famous Champagne region may have been exposed to radioactive waste from a nearby nuclear site. . .low-level radioactive waste is leaking into groundwater less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the famous Champagne vineyards.
France's world-famous Champagne region may have been exposed to radioactive waste from a nearby nuclear site, according to reports from Greenpeace.
The environmental pressure group claims that France's low-level radioactive waste is leaking into groundwater less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the famous Champagne vineyards.
According to Greenpeace, problems at a radioactive waste dumpsite in Soulaine were reported by its operator, ANDRA, to the French nuclear safety authority. The authority said that "the wall of a storage cell fissured" while concrete was being added to a recent layer of waste.
"We have been told for decades that nuclear dumpsites will not leak and that the best standards are being applied. In reality the dumpsite in Normandy is a disaster, and radioactivity is already leaking from the dumpsite in Champagne," said Shaun Burnie, nuclear campaigner at Greenpeace International.
"The authorities know they have a problem in Champagne already, with mistakes in the design. This is only the beginning of the problem; the bigger picture is that France has a nuclear waste crisis out of control that is threatening not only the environment and public health but also the economy of the Champagne region."
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