439 



A. Zolotkov 



Dumping of Raoioactive Waste at Sea 



Greenpeace/ RIA Moscow Deadly Legacy Seminar 



which should be no less than 4.000m. remoteness from main ocean routes, 

 nainiraal ioa prodictivitv in the vicinity of dumping vhich mainlv regards 

 fishin;; zones, and remoteness from the continents and islands. 



The 1072 London Convention, which was joined in 1976 by the Soviet 

 Union, defined the category of high-level radioactive material forbidden for 

 sea dumping (based on the total radioactivity: spent irradiated fuel, highly 

 active liquid wastes of approximately 0.5 cune/l with beta and gamma radiators 

 with half-lives of more than one year) and the category of radioactive 

 materials permitted to be dumped (comprising low- and intermediate level 

 active wastes). The convention has worked out relevant recommendations 

 which were to be followed by the national organizations of the member states. 



In 1983. the 7th "onsultative Meeting of the London Convention adopted 

 a resolution for a moratorium of RAW sea dumping for 2 years (USA, UK. the 

 Netherlands. Switzerland. South \frica. and Japan voted against, and the 

 I SSR. France. Greece. Brazd. and FRG abstained). This was caused by serious 

 opposition both within the dumping nations and in the countries located near 

 the selected site of dumping in the Atlantic Ocean. Groups of independent 

 experts were set up to carry out additional research. 



Although the results of determining the environmental consequences of 

 long-term RAW dumping in the Atlantic were quite optimistic, and the 

 preliminary calculations have shown that even at the existing level of dumping 

 on a particular site during the next 500 years individual radiation doses would 

 not reach significant magnitudes (no more than 0.001 "PDD" (maximal allowable 

 dosage]), the discussion of these conclusions at the 9th Consultative Meeting 

 in 1985 did not lead to the solution of this problem. 



The controversy shifted from the fields of science and technology to the 

 political sphere: again there was adopted a resolution on further research 

 which pre-supposed. in reality, the moratorium extension for the indefinite 

 period of time. Twenty-five countries voted in favor (UK, Canada. USA, France. 

 Switzerland and South Africa were against, and Argentina, Belgium, Italy, 

 Portugal. Greece, USSR, and Japan abstained.) 



It may be noted that the review of the foreign press presents detailed 

 information on the activity of different countries in the field of RAW sea 

 dumping. The location of sites, depth, number and mass of containers, and 

 the total activity of the waste could be found in the materials accessible not 

 only to specialists. What about the Soviet Union? 



The USSR joined the Convention 15 years ago: the USSR Council of 

 Ministers adopted a special decree No. 222 of March 6, 1979 in this respect. 

 In accordance with this document the USSR Goscomhydromet was lield 

 responsible for issuing special licenses and general permissions for RAW sea 

 dumping (in coordination with the Ministry of Fisheries). I would like to quote 



