559 



posal of SRW. Thus, the Navy attempted to solve problems falling beyond the scope of its de- 

 partmental authority, by making decisions with long-term consequences that threatened the eco- 

 logical state of large areas of the country and areas under international jurisdiction without coor- 

 dination with state governing bodies. 



A more detailed regulation on the disposal of RW at sea was adopted in 1966 with the im- 

 plementation of the Temporary Sanitary Requirements for Disposal of Radioactive Wastes at Sea 

 lvSTZ-66), approved by the Navy and the USSR Ministry of Public Health. 



VSTZ-66 applied to all facilities where NS's were based, refueled or repaired, as well as ship 

 repair and shipbuilding yards. VSTZ-66 contained requirements for RW discharge and disposal ar- 

 eas, standards for the discharge of LRW and disposal of SRW, procedures for preparation and 

 transportation of RW, and instructions on the conduct of radiation hygiene monitoring at disposal 

 sites. VSTZ-66 largely conformed to generally accepted standards, but again, since it applied to 

 the open sea, it should have been approved by the Government instead of an individual depart- 

 ment. 



The selection of areas of the sea for discharge of LRW and disposal of SRW was made by the 

 headquarters of the Northern and Pacific Fleets and approved by the Navy General Staflf in 1966- 

 1967. Until 1986, areas allocated to the Northern Fleet also received RW dumped by the USSR 

 Ministry of the Merchant Marine's Murmansk Maritime Shipping Line. The areas selected are 

 shown in Fig. 4. 



The procedures defined by VSTZ-66 for RW disposal at sea remained in effect until 1983. 

 When the USSR signed the 1972 London Convention and became subject to it on January 29, 

 1976, it was forced to review standards and fulfill the obligations it had assumed. 



On March 6, 1979, the USSR Council of Ministers adopted a resolution [18] prohibiting the 

 intentional discharge for purposes of disposal at sea of RW and other radioactive substances with 

 high levels of radiation whose discharge at sea was deemed unacceptable for biological and other 

 reasons from Soviet ships and other surface vessels, aircraft, platforms, and other structures arti- 

 ficially constructed at sea. As for RW and other radioactive materials that do not fall into the 

 above classifications, their discharge was permitted by special approval of the USSR State 

 Committee for Hydrometeorology (Goskomgidromet), in coordination with the USSR Ministry of 

 Fisheries. 



Under the resolution, Goskomgidromet was charged with the following tasks: 



• recording the characteristics and quantity of RW and other materials approved for 

 dumping; 



• recording the site, time, and method of dumping; 



• observing the condition of the sea in conformity with the aims of the London Con- 

 vention; 



• transmitting information on dumpings performed to the International Maritime Or- 

 ganization in its role as Convention Secretariat (and to other Convention signato- 

 ries). 



The Navy developed, coordinated with Goskomgidromet, and approved Regulations for Dis- 

 charge of Radioactive Waste at Sea (,PS-82), and implemented it starting in 1983. 



The USSR performed the majority of its RW dumpings at sea between 1959 and 1976, i.e., 

 before the London Convention applied to the USSR. After signing the Convention, it violated the 

 requirements, including its own PS-82, consciously and fi-equently. 



These Regulations did not require selection of disposal sites beyond the continental shelf; in- 



17 



