Researchers have identified and mapped more than 3,000 barrels of nuclear waste on the seabed of the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, particularly off the coast of Galicia, Spain. These barrels are part of a larger underwater nuclear waste dump where an estimated 200,000 barrels were dumped between 1946 and 1990. The discovery follows decades of nuclear waste disposal by various countries in the Atlantic, with limited prior information about the exact locations and contents of these barrels. The findings emerged from a French scientific expedition and have raised concerns about potential ecological impacts due to possible leakage from the containers. The barrels were found at depths approximately 600 kilometers from the Galician coast. Ongoing research aims to better understand the environmental risks and consider recovery options for this extensive nuclear waste repository in the Atlantic Ocean.