Spain Program
Palomares, Spain
In 1966, two U.S. Air Force planes collided during a
midair refueling near the coast of Palomares, Spain. Two
nuclear weapons fell into the sea and two broke up on the
ground. The nonnuclear detonations of two of the weapons
dispersed plutonium across steep and rugged agricultural
areas. The U.S. Department of Defense remediated the site
within weeks of the accident. Since that time, the Department
of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor Agencies have funded a
portion of the costs of an environmental monitoring research
program of the area and medical surveillance of the residents.
DOE also provides scientific and technical assistance.
In the aftermath of the accident, a formal cooperative research
program was initiated under the Hall-Otero Agreement of 1966.
The agreement is between DOE and the Kingdom of Spain. The major
goals of this agreement are to:
- Evaluate the associated radiological impact;
- Update radiological inventories for further land recovery; and
- Improve knowledge on the environmental behavior of transuranic
elements in an arid rural environment.
In 1997, DOE agreed to a new 10-year program with Centro de
Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Technológicas
(CIEMAT) to continue the work begun under the Hall-Otero Agreement.
CIEMAT is DOE's counterpart in the Kingdom of Spain. The agreement
acknowledges that CIEMAT has primary responsibility and that DOE's
role is supportive in nature with technical advice and partial
funding of the research activities.
In 2005, DOE and CIEMAT agreed to develop a plan for a new radiation
survey of Palomares' residual contaminated zones and to prepare a final
radiological management plan for these zones. In 2007, the two parties
formally agreed to cooperate completing the new radiological survey of
affected areas at the Palomares accident site by the end of 2008. The
survey will form the basis for recommending any additional final remedial
actions. DOE's cost-sharing arrangement with the Kingdom of Spain, begun
in 1966, will end in 2008.
The group photo below is the DOE delegation and CIEMAT staff in September 2007.
Since 1966, approximately 150 residents of Palomares receive complete physical
examinations and radio-bioassays of plutonium collected in urine each year. The
study, so far, involves a total of 1,029 people who received more than 4,000 medical
examinations and measurements for residual plutonium deposited within their bodies.
Information about the results of work done by CIEMAT is available on the CIEMAT Web site.
CIEMAT contact for Palomares project information:
Ms. Isabel Redondo
Director, Unity of Communication
and Public Relations
CIEMAT
Phone: +34 913466355
Fax: + 34 913466740
E-mail: isabel.redondo@ciemat.es
CIEMAT contact:
Carlos Sancho Llerandi
Chief of Unit of Recovery of Radiologically
Contaminated Lands
CIEMAT
Avenida Complutense, 22 28040, Madrid, Spain
Tel: +34 913466258
Fax: +34 913466718
DOE contact:
Mohandas Bhat
Office of International Health Studies
U.S. Department of Energy
Phone: (301) 903-1719
Fax: (301) 903-1413
Email: mohandas.bhat@hq.doe.gov
Link to CIEMAT:
http://www.ciemat.es/
http://petra2.ciemat.es/eng/actividad/programas/p_indalo.html
This page was last updated on February 28, 2008
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