The association for the control of radioactivity in the West (ACRO) denounced Wednesday a "contamination" radioactive drinking water of 6.4 million people in France. "6.4 million people are fed with water contaminated with tritium" according to "data provided by the Ministry of Health," says the laboratory based in Hérouville-Saint-Clair, in the agglomeration of Caen, in a statement. However, "no value exceeds the quality criterion of 100 Bq / L (Becquerel per liter) established by the health authorities," the association acknowledges.
"Risk of contamination of other pollutants"
According to the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), technical arm of the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN, "the public health code sets a quality reference of 100 Bq / L for tritium that does not represent a health limit but a threshold which, when exceeded, leads to a complementary investigation to characterize the radioactivity of the water ".
In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends "a guideline value of 10,000 Bq / L for tritium in drinking water, to be considered in case of permanent consumption of water", according to the IRSN . But "the regular presence in the water of the tritium faucet rejected by nuclear power stations shows a risk of contamination of other radioactive pollutants at much higher levels," argues ACRO.
The surroundings of large rivers affected
"Tritium is 'a whistleblower': in the event of a serious accident on one of the nuclear power plants on the Seine, the Vienne, or the Loire, there will not be only tritium rejected and millions of people who may be deprived of drinking water, "says the laboratory.
The "exclusive map of the radioactive contamination of drinking water in metropolitan France" published by ACRO from the data of the Ministry, "reveals several areas with a regular presence of tritium in tap water", in particular along of the Seine, Vienne and Loire, "because of radioactive releases" of nuclear power plants, according to the statement.