Radioactive pollution of tap water: what are the risks for the 10 million exposed French people ?

Pollution radioactive de l’eau du robinet : que risquent les 10 millions de Français exposés ?

In a recently published survey, the Commission for Independent Research and Information on Radioactivity (CRIIRAD) reveals that in France, 9.6 million people are exposed – through tap water – to tritium, the main radioactive product released into the environment by the nuclear industry. Does this present a risk? ?

Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. It has two origins: one natural, the other induced by human activities. In this case, it comes mainly from liquid and gaseous discharges from nuclear facilities.

A study carried out by CRIIRAD and Médiapart tells us that analyses carried out between 2016 and 2024 reveal the presence of tritium in the drinking water of many French municipalities.

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The most affected areas

The contamination mainly follows the course of the major rivers where nuclear power plants are installed:

The Paris region (290 municipalities including Paris); The Loire Valley (Nantes, Angers, Tours, Orléans); The Rhône Valley (Lyon, Bollène); The Garonne Valley (Agen, Marmande); The Vienne Valley (Châtellerault).

A special case is observed in Côte d’Or, where 77 municipalities are affected due to the presence of the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in Valduc, a site where thermonuclear weapons are manufactured. This is the site that, by far, releases the most tritium into the atmosphere in France.

An underestimated situation

In total, 663 municipalities and 9.6 million inhabitants are affected. But the problem could be more widespread. Because for the authors of the survey, the analyses often lack precision and they concern agglomerations located along or near waterways. Thus, “outside these main sectors, many municipalities occasionally present tritium contamination whose origin remains to be determined.” In fact, nearly 4,000 municipalities have not been subject to any control.

What is the health risk? ?

It has only been mandatory to test drinking water for tritium since 2005. But according to CRIIRAD, “ the results are difficult to access“. And the dangers of tritium are “underestimated”. The same is true of the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), which explains that “few epidemiological studies have looked at the health risks associated with tritium”. However, it does mention, in animal models, “a carcinogenic effect of exposure to high doses of tritium as well as an impairment of fertility“.

To find out more: consult the interactive map issued by CRIIRAD of the municipalities most exposed to tritium.