74 BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ATOMIC RADIATION 



lation through the food chain, and sedimentary exchange processes need to be studied, both 

 in the laboratory and at sea. It is obvious that these studies are of more than local or national 

 concern, and especially those concerned with the open ocean should be undertaken jointly 

 by all maritime nations. 



Tracer experiments should be made to evaluate the effects of currents and turbulent 

 mixing. For experimental purposes, dyes can be employed for certain of these studies, but 

 opportunities to use radioactive tracers should be exploited as opportunities arise. 



Seagoing equipment and techniques for conducting radiological research and monitoring 

 need to be improved and at least partially standardized. Many devices exist in research form, 

 but it is essential that these fundamental tools be made reliable enough so that the scientists 

 can concenrate oi> measurements and on interpretations of data rather than on equipment. 



III. Summary of Recent Developments 



1. Recommendations Concerning the Disposal of Packaged Low-Level Wastes along the 

 Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts. 



In January 1958, the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, the U. S. Atomic Energy Com- 

 mission, and the Office of Naval Research requested the Committee on Oceanography of the 

 National Academy of Sciences — National Research Council to conduct a detailed study of the 

 problems of the disposal of low-level radioactive wastes into the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico 

 coastal waters of the United States. Later a similar request was made for the waters off the 

 Pacific coast of North America. The Committee on Oceanography in turn requested the 

 Committee on Biological Effects of Atomic Radiation on Oceanography and Fisheries to ap- 

 point two working groups to undertake these tasks. The report of the East Coast working 

 group was issued in 1959(2). 



Of special concern was the use of near-shore regions as disposal areas for the low-level 

 radioactive wastes generated in university and industrial laboratories, hospitals, and research 

 institutions licensed by the AEC to use relatively small quantities of radioactive materials, and 

 the disposal of such materials in packaged form. Consideration was given to the probable fate 

 of materials introduced in this way, the role of currents and mixing in dispersing the material, 

 and the hazards to health that might arise from their reconcentration in marine organisms used 

 as food. Using the best estimates available for each of these dispersing and concentrating 

 mechanisms and taking in each case the most conservative value, a maximum rate of disposal 

 of 250 curies of soluble Sr™ per year or its equivalent in terms of maximum permissible con- 

 centrations in sea water was recommended. This rate is probably one hundred and possibly 

 one thousand times below the rate that would return the waste to man at maximum permis- 

 sible levels, the latter based upon the recommendations of the National Committee on Radia- 

 tion Protection and Measurements(5). 



Several locations were suggested along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts which appeared on 

 the basis of incomplete data to be capable of receiving the 250 curies of Sr'" per year or its 

 equivalent. It was recommended that, prior to the start of disposal operations in any one of 

 these locations, a detailed survey be made to determine whether or not the rates of dispersal 

 and concentration used in arriving at the 250-curie rate of disposal are applicable, and also 

 to provide a pre-use picture of conditions upon which the effects of disposal could be deter- 

 mined. 



