A comprehensive assessment of two-decade radioactivity monitoring around the Channel Islands

Abstract

The Channel Islands are located in the Normand-Breton Gulf (NBG), in the mid-part of the English Channel (France, Normandy). In the northern part, off Cap La Hague, controlled amounts of radioactive liquid waste are discharged by the ORANO La Hague nuclear fuel reprocessing plant (RP). Radionuclides were monitored in the NBG to assess the dispersion of radioactive discharges from the RP in the marine environment. The temporal and spatial distribution of the data are consistent with the history of the discharges, with most gamma emitter radionuclide environmental levels being close to or below the current limits of detection. A clear fingerprint of H-3, C-14 and I-129 radionuclides discharged from the RP is measured. The hydrodynamics in the NBG do not yield a simple gradient with linear distance from the outfall of the RP. Modelling tools were used to understand how radioactive discharges spread from the source of input. Dispersion patterns clearly illustrate the different behaviours of soluble and non-soluble radionuclides. The study indicated that the footprint of radioactive liquid discharges by French nuclear facilities was still measurable in species collected from the NBG for the mostly dissolved radionuclides. The less conservative ones, with a high affinity for suspended matter, are potentially influenced by old releases. These pathways could be investigated by dedicated hydrodynamic dispersion models. Overall, in the Channel Islands the levels are low and consistent with the general decrease in liquid radionuclide discharges by the RP since the 1990s.