Overview

• The NODSSUM expedition on L’Atalante has completed 15 UlyX dives, mapping 140 km² of the Atlantic trench off Galicia.
• Sonar imaging located over 3,000 low- to intermediate-level radioactive barrels at depths exceeding 4,000 meters.
• The waste was legally dumped by Dutch, Belgian and British vessels from the 1940s through the 1980s under Cold War–era practices.
• The Spanish Nuclear Safety Council has detected no significant radioactivity on the Spanish or Cantabrian coasts, and regional authorities are in contact with the expedition to seek long-term waste solutions.
• Scientists have begun sediment, water, marine-life sampling to gauge ecological risks and plan a 2026 phase to directly sample barrel contents.