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Working Group under the GCC, we and the Russians are exploring how intelhgence assets 

 developed during the Cold War can be used to characterize environmental contamination at 

 military bases. We will exchange the first derived products next year. 



In June 1995, Secretary of Defense William Perry and his Russian counterpart 

 Minister of Defense Pavel Grachev signed a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate 

 military environmental cooperation. Under this agreement we can share information and 

 experiences in a wide variety of subjects, ranging from risk analysis as an environmental 

 prioritization tool, to environmentally sound weapons demilitarization, to personnel education 

 and training. 



The Secretary of Defense established the Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation 

 program at the request of Norwegian Minister of Defense Kosmo in June 1994. It comprises 

 a trilateral military-to-military dialogue between the U.S., Russia and Norway on Arctic 

 military contamination. At the first trilateral meeting in Horton, Norway this spring, U.S. and 

 Norwegian officials presented the results of our research on nuclear contamination in the 

 Arctic, and briefed Russian officials on the integration of sound environmental management 

 practices into military activities. We are still hoping to have a meeting eariy next year. 

 Engaging the Northern Fleet in this military-to-military dialogue is a useful step in 

 encouraging the Russians to take responsibility for their actions and improving the 

 environmental management of the active and decommissioned submarine fleet. 



The Department's Arctic Nuclear Waste Assessment Prog ram (ANWAP) is a three- 

 year old effort begun by Congress to assess the nature and extent of nuclear waste in the 

 Arctic region. The Office of Naval Research conducts this research program. ADM Palaez 

 will address the program in detail in his testimony today. The study found that no 

 radioactivity from dumped Russian material is measurable except in very localized regions; 

 that is, directly adjacent to some of the dumped material. Currently, there appears to be no 

 risk to the coast of Alaska, or the Arctic basin as a whole from the radioactive waste disposal 

 practices of the former Soviet Union. As part of the project, ONR is developing a model 

 which will be useful to examine the risk from any type of contaminant (both radioactive and 

 non-radioactive) entering the Arctic from any source. Using an eariier version of this model, 

 it shows that even assuming a worst-case scenario for release of the dumped material, no 

 radioactivity above background would reach Alaskan shores. What may be deserving of 

 additional study is potential risk from heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants, 

 emanating from industrial facilities near rivers flowing into the Arctic. 



Finally, through the Murmansk Initiative DoD is partnering with EPA, AID, DOE and 

 the Government of Norway to upgrade an existing low-level radioactive waste processing 

 facility for use by the Russian Northern Fleet. The current facility services the civilian 

 nuclear icebreaker fleet of the Murmansk Shipping Company, and has a capacity of 1200 

 cubic meters a year. After the upgrade, the facility will be able to process the high-saline 

 wastes generated by the Northern Fleet, with a total capacity of 5,000 cubic meters per year. 

 The Russian Navy and Ministry of Defense have indicated that they will use the facility, on a 



