448 NATIONAL OCEAJSrOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 



of potential great utility to mankind. We are entirely in accord with the grow- 

 ing feeling thaJt work in this area is deserving of continued and formal emphasis 

 on the part of the Federal Government, and we thus agree with the substantive 

 intent of the legislation under consideration. 



Our feelings on the present need for specific legislation derive from our par- 

 ticipation with other agencies in the attempts made in recent years to examine 

 oceanographic problems in a coordinated way, but they also derive from the 

 nature and objectives of our own activities related to oceanography. The Atomic 

 Energy Commission supports programs in a limited number of areas related in 

 different ways to that general field. Each of our programs is specifically 

 directed to some atomic energy need, interest, or capability. An understanding 

 of these relationships may be of specific interest to your committee in its investi- 

 gation of the general problem of pulling together a comprehensive approach to 

 oceanography, and I shall accordingly outline veiT briefly the nature and objec- 

 tives of these programs as an introduction to our opinions on coordination and 

 organization of the entire Federal effort. 



The first and most direct area of AEC concern with oceanography derives from 

 our i-esponsibility for developing an understanding of the role of radioactivity 

 in the environment. Substantial amounts of radioactivity have been introduced 

 into man's environment over the past years, in largest amount as a result of tests 

 by various nations of nuclear explosive devices, but to some much lesser extent 

 through the operation of plants concerned with the production of special nuclear 

 material and with the application of nuclear processes for useful peaceful pur- 

 poses. Radioactivity in the environment finds its way to a considerable extent 

 into the ooeans. 



The oceans are so large that the concentrations of activity are low, and we 

 do not feel that the amounts presently in the oceans constitute a health hazard, 

 but it is essential that we understand the role and fate of such activity. Ac- 

 cordingly, as part of its programs in environmental studies, the AEC supports 

 siibstantial investigations on the behavior and fate of radioactivity in the oceans 

 and in estuarial waters. These studies include investigations of physical and 

 chemical transport, diffusion, and reactions, and studies of interaction with 

 living organisms. The work includes programs at national laboratories and 

 approximately 50 contracts with universities, research institutions and private 

 industry. It has been carried on at a gradually increasing level for over 

 10 years, and is yielding a growing understanding of the important relationships 

 bet^v'een radioactivity and the oceans. This work bears directly on Commission 

 decisions regarding the safety of operations involving radioactivity in the sea. 

 As a byproduct, the tracing of such activity through the ocean yields an in- 

 creasing knowledge of physical and biological processes in the oceans them- 

 selves, and thus contributes to a basic understanding of marine ecology. 



It is important, in relating this work to considerations of a national progi'am 

 in oceanography, to emphasize that it was initiated and has been carried for- 

 ward in response to our own specialized environmental responsibilities and 

 interests. It is fimd'ed as a part of the total environmental work, with the 

 levels of funding set in competition with work in other environments, and in 

 more general competition with other nuclear work. 



A second area in which our work relates to oceanography is in the newly 

 recognized field of ocean engineering. The ABC in a number of programs is 

 engaged in development efforts whose object is to apply the unique capabilities 

 of nuclear materials and processes to other fields. This has been most dra- 

 matic and successful in the production of power through nuclear reactors and 

 through isotopic heat sources. Undersea applications represent a natural field 

 of use for these techniques. We have underway programs that should lead to 

 the provision of auxiliary nuclear power in substantial amounts, for such appli- 

 cations as manned undersea stations or mining, and to the establishment of 

 low-maintenance power sources in remote locations at sea, such as navigation 

 buoys and warning devices for isolated drill rigs. Some demonstration units 

 of the low-maintenance sources are already in operation. Nuclear propulsion 

 deep undersea is a promising field of application in which the AEC has a sub- 

 stantial program, in cooperation with the Navy, under the leadership of Admiral 

 Rickover. 



In these remote or undersea applications nuclear power appears to be the 

 only method by which such characteristics as large amounts of power, freedom 

 from maintenance, or long endurance in isolated locations can be combined to 

 meet the requirements for extending the national capability to reach and main- 

 tain activities in difficult ocean environments. 



