222,000 drums of nuclear radioactive waste were dumped in the Atlantic trench.

Omissions

• The exact number varies across sources: the CNRS article (the source the MEP cites) says 'some 200,000 barrels', while Greenpeace Spain says '220.000 bidones' in the Fosa Atlántica; no source found states precisely 222,000 drums.
• The dumping was not a single event: it took place over decades (1946/1950 to 1990) and involved multiple European countries, not one incident.
• Some accounts express the waste in tonnes rather than drum counts (e.g. sghn.org cites 142,000 tonnes dumped between 1967 and 1983), so mixing 'drums' and 'tonnes' figures can create apparent discrepancies.
• All sources located are secondary (institutional/news media/NGO); no primary inventory (e.g. IAEA/OECD-NEA dump records) was retrieved within the search limit.

Sources

• SecondaryCNRS News — Tracking radioactive barrels in the AtlanticBetween the 1950s and 1990s, some 200000 barrels of radioactive waste were dumped by European nations into the North East Atlantic.
• SecondaryGreenpeace España (press release)Greenpeace reclama a la Unión Europea y al Gobierno español que asuman las investigaciones de los 220.000 bidones con residuos radiactivos que hay en la fosa atlántica (Greenpeace demands the EU and the Spanish Government take on the investigations of the 220,000 drums of radioactive waste lying in the Atlantic trench).
• SecondaryLe Monde (English edition)Scientists set out to inspect 200,000 barrels of radioactive waste at the bottom of the Atlantic ... For 40 years, from 1950 to 1990, countries dumped radioactive waste in the North-East Atlantic.
• SecondaryPhys.orgBetween 1950 and 1990, more than 200,000 barrels filled with radioactive waste were dumped in the depths of the North-East Atlantic.
• SecondaryFutura SciencesBetween 1946 and 1990, fourteen European countries dumped more than 200,000 barrels of radioactive waste into the Atlantic Ocean.