It all started last April. After the alert issued by an individual, an association for the defense of the environment, the association Green Country White and Black
reveals abnormally high levels of radioactivity on black sand from Trébézy beach and a nearby cove in Saint-Nazaire.
Rates ten times higher than normal
The association sends its data to CRIIRAD, the Commission for Independent Research and Information on Radioactivity
, who analyzes the samples in the laboratory. His findings confirm this: the levels of radioactivity are on average 10 times higher than normal. In detail, for example, the rate of Uranium 238 is 12 times above the average, 35 times for Thorium 232.
“On a beach, we lie down to tan. However, we do not lie down on areas where there is abnormal irradiation!, exclaims Jean-Max Estay. The treasurer of the VPBN association took the samples and points to a potential risk for the populationespecially for children. “At the beach, a child is playing with the sand. He licks his fingers and swallows it. So there, he swallows radioactive grains of sand. It is no longer a question of radiation, but of contamination!”
Where does this radioactivity come from?
CRIIRAD stresses the need to know where this radioactivity comes from in order to protect the population. “It can be a strictly natural phenomenon, for example linked to erosion, but it can also be pollution linked to the use in industry of mineral materials. High radioactivity can be in industries linked to coal , related to fertilizers, related to a whole series of activities”explains the director of the CRIIRAD laboratory, Bruno Chareyron.
The most probable hypothesis, according to the Nuclear Safety Authority
, is that this presence of radioactivity is of natural origin, of minerals carried by the Loire because of a phenomenon of erosion. ASN relies on in-depth analyses, carried out a few years ago on the beaches of Camargue. The nature of the samples were similar, and the studies had concluded that there was no danger to the population.
“The results of the measurements on the beach of Trébézy being lower, there is no reason to have any health impact on this beach either.explains Emilie Jambu, head of the Nantes division of ASN. There is no health emergency today on this beach, hence our conclusion that we did not recommend any specific protective measures. The exposures are very low.”
A map of the beaches in the area
CRIIRAD asks the authorities “a detailed cartography of the beaches on the right bank and on the left bank of the Loire estuary to clearly see where these phenomena occur”as well as further research to find out the origin of the phenomenon, “to understand if there is a way to limit these inputs of radioactive sand on the beaches”.
New measures are planned by ASN during 2023 on the beach of Trébézy and on the nearby beaches.
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Association VPBN