Radium pollution: more than 160 watchmaking workshops cleaned up in Switzerland

The Confederation’s radium action plan made it possible to clean up more than 160 contaminated former watchmaking workshops. Some 250 old landfills that could contain radium waste have been identified, according to a report adopted on Wednesday by the Federal Council.

As part of the action plan, almost 1,100 buildings potentially contaminated with radium were identified based on extensive historical research, mainly in the cantons of Bern, Neuchâtel and Solothurn. In total, the action plan cost nearly 11 million francs, the government said in a press release.

A strategy has also been developed for the long-term management of more than 250 old landfills likely to contain contaminated waste, and which require radiation protection measures in the event of future excavation work.

The action plan achieved its objectives in terms of protecting the health of the population and workers, as well as the environment. But the discovery of future radium legacies cannot be ruled out.

/ATS