RADIOACTIVE WASTE

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29333, 12 October 1960, Page 10

RADIOACTIVE WASTE

Dumping At Sea Opposed (Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.) (Rec. 8 p.m.) LONDON, October 10. The decision of the French Atomic Energy Commission to dump 6500 airtight containers of radioactive waste into the Mediterranean half-way between France and Corsica has brought protests from the people of these shores, says the Paris correspondent of “The Times.’’ The Mayor of Menton has asked the Government to abandon the idea because he fears not only the effects on public health, but also on the tourist trade on the Cote d’Azur. Corsicans, who have already been alarmed by the Government’s proposal for underground nuclear explosions near Caldi, are indignant at what they believe to be another threat to their health and the tourist trade The committee which successfully fought the underground explosion threat says that the dumping of radioactive waste into the sea Would adversely affect fishing as well as tourist prospects. The official argument is that there can be no danger from the submerged containers, which will be checked periodically for leaks. Even were there a leak, they say, the degree of radiation would be 30 times less than that fixed by security measures.