Areva presents survey of dispersed waste rock in part of former Limousin uranium mining area
At the July 12, 2012, meeting of the local information and monitoring commission (Commission Locale d'information et de surveillance - CLIS) in charge of the former uranium mining sites in the Haute-Vienne departement, Areva presented the results of a survey of the dipersed uranium mine waste rock in the area. Areva identified 11 locations whith excess annual doses in the 0.3 - 0.6 mSv/a range, and 7 locations above 0.6 mSv/a.The doses were not calculated for continuous exposure, but for varying occupancy periods (400 - 2000 hours per year), according to site usage categories selected on the basis of current site usage. The dose calculations thus do not take into account any future change of site usage.
Three of the locations in the highest category are located in the town of Bessines-sur-Gartempe and shall be cleaned up first.
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(DREAL - in French) Radioactive material from former uranium mines found dispersed in Limousin area
Members of the group l'Association de défense de l'environnement de la Xaintrie (ADEX) have identified rocks close to the "quality of pure uranium ore" at the surface of an embankment dam at Saint-Privat (Corrèze). The rocks apparently came with waste rock from the former uranium mines in the Corrèze department (Limousin area). Such waste rock material was used for road construction and level grading on public and private grounds within a radius of 30 km of the mines. The radioactive material will now be removed by Areva.Until 1984, no accounts were kept on the whereabouts of the waste rock material from the uranium mines. (Le Populaire July 19, 2011)
Suit filed against Areva for inappropriate disposal of decommissioning wastes in former Limousin uranium mining area
The NGO Sources et Rivières du Limousin has filed suit against Areva for not having properly disposed of approx. 600 cubic metres of radioactive residues left from the cleanup performed in 2010 at the Rode pond in the Limousin area.> View Sources et Rivières du Limousin release May 23, 2011
(in French) On June 1, 2011, the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne departement ordered Areva to remove the radioactive residues and to ensure their safe long-term disposal. (Le Figaro June 7, 2011)
Pluralist expert group releases final report on uranium mill tailings deposits in Limousin area
On Sep. 17, 2010, the pluralist expert group (Groupe d'Expertise Pluraliste - GEP) in charge of assessing the environmental situation at the former uranium mine sites in the Limousin area released its final report. The GEP sets out six main areas of improvements, within which the GEP makes 15 major recommendations addressed to the public authorities, the owner and all of the stakeholders concerned. These recommendations aim to:
- to renovate and clarify the institutional and legal framework for the management of the former mining uranium sites,
- to promote efforts directed at the improvement of knowledge on the sites; to continue the studies and research and to broaden their scope,
- to reinforce the relevance of impact evaluations, in particular extending them to the ecosystems; to replace public exposure in the public health risks,
- to develop surveillance systems at the sites and the zones potentially located under their influence,
- to extend the effort of refitting in order to put in place, as of today, systems that are as robust as possible for the long term, where the risks justify it,
- to continue the implementation of the principles of information and participation to make them the drivers of a truly sustainable management system for the sites.
(PDF - in French)> Download Executive Summary
(PDF - in English)> Download Final GEP Report
(in French) http://www.wise-uranium.org/udfr.html#LIMOUSIN
