OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES 317 



They also made the observation that disposal by pipeline was un- 

 desirable. 



I understand that Great Britain has been disposing of some of these 

 radioactive materials by pipeline, and you will hear a lot of fine 

 talk about how successful that has been and how it empties into a 

 kelp bed and they harvest this kelp. They have made all sorts of 

 studies, and the pipeline operation works fine. There is proper dis- 

 persal, and there is no after effect either on marine life or plantlife. 



I think again you have to take into consideration the currents, sedi- 

 mentation, and so forth, on each particular location. 



The original recommendation of the National Bureau of Standards 

 did not recommend a pipeline at all. 



They state on page 4 of that publication : 



Disposal of radioactive waste through pipelines is considered undesirable. 



That is very flatly stated. 



We have no definite studies which have been made with reference 

 to the maximiun permissible concentration, and in none of the pub- 

 lications has there been a study with reference to maximum concen- 

 tration, nor has there been a study made with regard to dispersion, 

 either in the upper layers or lower layers of the ocean. I think that 

 is something your committee perhaps should be very much concerned 

 with, detailed studies which will bring about a proper guide as to 

 dispersion and disposal of radioactive waste materials in the ocean. 



Another thing that will concern us all is the control of dumping 

 these materials in the ocean. 



After all, we have control of our waters only a certain distance 

 from our shores, and the oceans are free, and there is a good possibil- 

 ity some other counti-y might choose our offshore sites to dump mate- 

 rials, and I don't know how we can stop them so far as that is con- 

 cerned. 



By the same token, I wonder about liow we are going to control our 

 own licensed people other than by the license itself as to where they 

 will dump this material, because once they are out into the free high 

 seas the only control we would have would be by nature of what we 

 can do with them when they get back to shore should they not follow 

 the purposes of their license. 



It looks like this might develop into an international question as 

 to these disposal sites. 



The National Academy of Sciences put out some other reports with 

 reference to this subject. One of them was published in 1957, publica- 

 tion No. 551, and it is a very exhaustive piec« of work entitled "Effects 

 of Atomic Radiation on Oceanography and Fisheries." 



In this volume they point out the hazards through recovery of 

 containers. 



In other words, they state fishermen might bring these containers 

 up in their nets if they are not properly disposed of, and you would 

 find fishermen exposed to this material unless it is properly placed at 

 a depth where it would not interfere with the fishermen's nets. 



It is not unusual for fishermen to bring up junk which has been 

 dumped out in their fishing grounds, unknown to them, and it not 

 only damages very expensive nets but in this instance it might very 

 well mean some exposure to them which might cause injury or death. 



They point that out, and it is a very practical consideration. 



