106 



and the Canadigin Department of the Environment are all involved 

 in this effort. 



A major gap in the proposed '92-93 sampling programs lies be- 

 tween the Kara and Chukchi Seas, particularly along Russia's Arc- 

 tic coastline. Conduct of the research in this area, approximately 

 parallel to the northern sea route, is probably most cost effective 

 if carried out predominantly by Russian scientists aboard Russian 

 ships, including their icebreakers. In this connection, the oppor- 

 tunity to use former weapons scientists in Russia is a good oppor- 

 tunity. 



And that as I have alluded to earlier, we intend to explore the 

 possibility of using Russian environmental scientists, their marine 

 chemists, biologists, and geologists, to participate in retraining the 

 former weapons scientists. Knowledgeable U.S. scientists may as- 

 sist in this retraining. The retraining, if authorized, would be con- 

 ducted in conjunction with the International Science and Tech- 

 nology Center announced by Secretary Baker that we are trjdng to 

 establish in Russia. 



These newly-trained scientists could, given their backgroxinds, 

 make additional contributions to the definition of the Arctic pollu- 

 tion problem and also sustain more complete and accurate monitor- 

 ing work in that region in the future. Moreover, the Russia Aid 

 Bill, which you are so responsible for, Mr. Chairman, that passed 

 the Senate recently, would provide support for these and other im- 

 portant environmental objectives in the Arctic. 



I'd like to say just a few words about the progress we've made 

 in the last few years on international Arctic cooperation. This may 

 prove to be of great use in assessing the number waste issue. Until 

 recently we promoted our Arctic scientific and environmental inter- 

 ests internationally, through bilateral agreements or programs. 

 Aside from the 1973 agreement on the conservation of polar bears, 

 there was no Arctic-specific multilateral agreements or cooperative 

 arrangements. In the late 1980's the Soviet Union began express- 

 ing interest in region-wide arctic cooperation for the first time, 

 opening the door to prospects for such cooperation. As a result, the 

 Arctic countries, Finland, Canada, Denmark on behalf of Green- 

 land, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia and the U.S., are now co- 

 operating much more closely. 



There are also two new Arctic initiatives which are relevant to 

 the issue before us today. The first is the International Arctic 

 Science Committee founded in August 1990. The lASC is a non- 

 governmental scientific organization established to encourage and 

 facilitate international consultation and cooperation for scientific 

 research concerned with the Arctic. It is comprised of representa- 

 tives from the eight arctic countries plus six others which are other 

 countries to have demonstrated substantial research in Arctic 

 science. The lASC consists of a counsel, a regional board, working 

 groups and a secretariat headquartered in Oslo, Norway. The U.S. 

 representative to this group is the National Academy of Sciences. 

 And I think the lASC must be requested to play a role in designing 

 and planning the needed assessment of these nuclear waste dis- 

 charges. 



A second cooperative effort was initiated by Finland in 1989 and 

 resulted in what we know now as the Arctic Environmental Protec- 



