A CNRS mission has documented the advanced deterioration of radioactive barrels dumped between 1950 and 1990 off Galicia. The BNG demands that the Spanish government actively participate in the research and assess their removal.
The Nodssum project, led by CNRS and Ifremer, completed a second expedition aboard the Pourquoi Pas? between 27 May and 28 June 2026. Researchers descended more than 4,700 metres and confirmed the deterioration of several containers along with leaks of their contents.
BNG deputy Néstor Rego criticised the central government’s stance: “While France leads an internationally referenced scientific investigation, the central government remains in inaction”. Rego called for collaboration with CNRS and a plan to remove the waste if safe.
Between 1950 and 1990 more than 220,000 barrels containing 140,000 tonnes of radioactive waste were dumped about 300 nautical miles from Cabo Fisterra. The mission also collected water, sediment and organism samples to study radionuclide dispersion.
