Electricité de France (EDF) has asked Institut Français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer (IFREMER) to monitor the coastal marine environment and its living resources around nuclear power plants along the French coast. Started in 1974, these investigations were undertaken in the areas of Gravelines, Le Blayais, Paluel, Flamanville, and Penly; the objective is to detect any impact of the open-circuit water cooling system, as well as any differences in the marine environment itself. To examine this question, IFREMER has set up a program called Impact des Grands Aménagements (IGA). It has evolved according to the results obtained and now integrates the specificity of each site in a global program common to all. The nature and the problems of impact... |