Whatever Happened to the 150,000 Tons of Radioactive Waste Stored Under the Atlantic Ocean?
More than 200,000 barrels of low-level radioactive waste were stored on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean between 1949 and 1982, reports ScienceAlert. Whatever happened to those barrels? Scientists have descended to the wreckage in a crewed submersible to investigate — and found many of the barrels corroded and degraded, their contents spilling across the seafloor. Surprisingly, this isn't…
Between 1949 and 1982, over 200,000 barrels of low-level radioactive waste were stored on the seafloor of the Atlantic Ocean, according to ScienceAlert. The fate of these barrels remains a mystery, but recent scientific expeditions have shed light on their current state. Upon descending to the wreckage in a crewed submersible, researchers discovered that many barrels had corroded and degraded, releasing their contents across the ocean floor.
This wasn't necessarily against the original plan — the International Atomic Energy Agency recommends that low-level waste be stored in robust containment for hundreds of years, but mid-20th century guidelines suggested the containers only needed to reach the seafloor intact for a short period, allowing short-lived radionuclides to decay.
The remaining waste was anticipated to slowly escape and disperse in the ocean, though not all of it would break down easily. The radioactive mix included cesium-137, plutonium isotopes, and tritium, some of which can remain potent for thousands of years. A team of nuclear physicists, geologists, oceanographers, biologists, and marine chemists, known as NODSSUM, embarked on an interdisciplinary project to locate the barrels and assess their impact on the environment.
Interestingly, the barrels seemed to function as small habitats, attracting anemones, sponges, sea cucumbers, fish, and crustaceans. Instruments aboard the submersible detected substantial signals of cobalt-60 and niobium-94, which could be traced back to the dumped waste. Despite the significant radioactive readings, the levels quickly dissipated within a few meters, posing no major radiation-protection risks to the scientists handling the samples.
The NODSSUM team successfully mapped the exact locations of the barrels, but this doesn't mean the waste is harmless. While the findings don't suggest a radioactive crab apocalypse, the potential long-term effects on the marine ecosystem and human health remain a concern.
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