62 BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ATOMIC RADIATION 



several years. Ecological studies of the behavior of radioactive materials in food chains and 

 biological systems should constitute important parts of this program. 



4. Of increasing concern in the nation's waste management program is the growing need 

 for disposal services for solid radioactive wastes from various sources. Such waste materials, 

 with different levels of radioactivity and associated with laboratory and research activities and 

 routine reactor operations, are presently disposed of by land burial at AEC sites and by dis- 

 posal at sea. Burial ground sites are located in large isolated areas, associated with the major 

 AEC production and testing installations. 



AEC licensee operations, which are governed by Federal regulations, can dispose of only 

 nominal quantities of waste materials on site. It has been necessary, therefore, for most 

 licensees to packagfe and transport wastes to off-site disposal locations. Because of the increas- 

 ing volume of these wastes, there is need in the United States for the establishment of regional, 

 permanent land disposal sites for solid radioactive wastes. The selection of suitable solid waste 

 burial sites should be based primarily on safety, giving proper consideration to economic and 

 convenience factors. The technical feasibility of disposing of these types of wastes by land 

 burial in accordance with acceptable standards for radiation protection has been demonstrated. 



Establishment of regional burial ground facilities may be expected to involve complex 

 administrative, legal and public relations issues. Major questions requiring resolution at the 

 present time are ( 1 ) the extent to which the Federal or State government will retain long-term 

 responsibility for the disposed material, (2) the role of commercial or industrial participation 

 in the waste disposal field, and (3) actions necessary to provide public acceptance of the 

 establishment of proposed disposal sites. Because of the long-term implications of this prob- 

 lem, it would appear that the long-term responsibility must remain with government, either 

 Federal or State; accordingly, such burial grounds should be established only on publicly 

 owned land. 



5. The disposal of solid, packaged wastes into the ocean has been a subject of extensive 

 public interest during the past year. This method of disposal has been used in the U. S. for 

 low-level solid or packaged wastes which emanate from laboratory and normal reactor oper- 

 ations. It is utilized primarily by AEC installations within reasonable shipping distance to 

 coastal ports. The safety of these operations has been supported by ( 1 ) the views of experts 

 in the marine sciences and other related fields to whom the problem has been referred, (2) 

 the actual operating experience of the British in disposing of considerably greater quantities of 

 liquid radioactive wastes to the Irish Sea, and (3 ) the preliminary but direct information from 

 actual field studies made in both Atlantic and Pacific Ocean disposal areas. Further support of 

 the safety of the present sea disposal operations is given in a recently published report of the 

 National Academy of Sciences — National Research Council.^ A group of marine scientists 

 appointed by the Academy's Committee on Oceanography reported, after conservative 

 evaluation of the various environmental, recreational, and industrial factors involved, that it 

 would be feasible to dispose safely of the types of low-level wastes previously described in 

 several closer-to-shore and shallower depth locations along the Atlantic and Gulf Coast. The 

 Committee further recommended that detailed oceanographic studies be conducted at pro- 

 posed in-shore sites prior to any utilization for waste disposal purposes. It is noted that the 

 AEC, however, has not made a decision to use or approve the use of in-shore sites. 



Radioactive materials discharged to rivers eventually reach the sea in amounts dependent 

 on: the nature of the radionuclides; time of flow; and the physical, chemical, and biological 



*NAS — NRC Publication 655, Raclioaclive Waste Disposal into Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Waters, 1959. 



