Absence of those responsible

Polluted sites are predominantly from the radium mining industry. The industry died out in the 1920s after a boom period in the wake of the work of Marie Curie and medical applications implemented during the First World War. Thus the last radium extraction site stopped in 1928 (in the town of Nogent-sur-Marne). It is thus unrealistic to look for any responsible body still in place (there is now a 30-year proscription applicable to industrial activities following the decision of the State Council on the ‘Allusuissse’ issue). The situations ANDRA inherits are therefore situations from the national industrial heritage, to be managed as best as possible.