41 years ago today, on August 25, 1984 (July 29, 1984 in the lunar calendar), a cargo ship carrying uranium sank on the coast of Belgium. The USS Mont-Louis sank near Belgium with its deadly cargo. On the night of August 25, 1984, a nuclear panic occurred near Belgium. A French cargo ship carrying 450 tons of uranium-containing material collided with a car ferry near Ostend. A tugboat pulled them apart, and the Mont-Louis lost balance, flipped on one side, and sank. The ship's owners later delayed admitting that the ship was transporting a large amount of uranium hexafluoride-an intermediate product that can be used to make bombs and fuel. The French Ministry of Environmental Protection immediately sent divers to test the seawater near the collision site. "There is no sign of nuclear radiation in the area," an official said. Boat owners said the substance was contained in 30 containers located on the front of the ship and was unaffected during the collision. Atomic energy experts say any radioactive material will inevitably spread if uranium comes into contact with seawater. Greenpeace, which specializes in environmental protection, first discovered that the USS Monte Luis contained nuclear material. A spokesman said: "The accident in the North Sea proves that transporting nuclear material by sea is unsafe." The accident occurred while the uranium fluoride material was on its way to the Soviet Union. A spokesman for the Ministry of Environmental Protection said it is not illegal to transport the substance by ship under NATO agreements. The official did not disclose how the Soviet Union planned to use the uranium-containing materials.