110 



Mr. Chairman, I will stay fairly close to the written statement, ex- 

 cept I will skip a few details in the interest of saving time, 



Mr. Lennon. All right, sir, and without objection, your full state- 

 ment will be inserted in the record. 



Mr. Joseph. Thank you, sir. 



In his testimony before this subcommittee 2 years ago, Dr. George 

 M. Kavanagh, then our Deputy Assistant General Manager for Re- 

 search and Development, briefly outlined the nature and objectives of 

 AEC's oceanographic programs in relation to management's views 

 on certain legislative proposals pending before your committee, 



I would like to refer to and expand on Dr. Kavanagh's outline de- 

 scription of our marine programs to indicate the direction taken and 

 progress made since then and their relationship to the Marine Coun- 

 cil's goals. 



As Dr. Kavanagh outlined, the AEC's marine-related research and 

 development program is in three distinct areas, each of which is di- 

 rectly related to AEC's major mission of development, use, and con- 

 trol of atomic energy. 



We do conduct a marine environmental science research program, 

 and an ocean engineering program, which are directly related to 

 oceanography ; less directly related are our programs in food irradia- 

 tion, including fish irradiation, water desalination and nuclear ship 

 propulsion. I think it will be readily obvious that these programs are 

 compatible with the goals of the National Marine Council. 



The AEC's marine science research program is concerned witli the 

 effect of radioactivity which has been or may be released to the marine 

 environment. Special attention is given to the means of transport of 

 radioactivity through water and marine life into the human food 

 chain. This program of studies is somewhat different from the usual 

 single discipline approach to studying ocean problems. This program 

 integrates marine biological studies with associated work in chemical 

 and physical oceanography. 



Of approximately 60 research projects in the marine sciences, about 

 half deal with biological aspects ; that is, either with radio ecology — 

 the relationships of marine biota to radioactivity in their environment,, 

 or with radiobiology — the biological effects of radioactivity on various 

 marine organisms. 



The other research projects deal with geochemical aspects or with 

 physical oceanographic aspects usually in a way that links chemistry 

 and physics. All of them relate to radioactivity then in the marine 

 environment. 



Rather than try to indicate progress on each of these 60 projects, I 

 will highlight selected projects and developments, which we think in- 

 dicate the quality and scope of the AEC effort. 



A substantial effort is supported in studies aimed at understanding, 

 cjuantitatively, the marine food web. The AEC's interest in such work 

 is intrinsic since, in order to predict the amount of radioactivity that 

 will be taken up by fish in any contamination event, it is necessary to 

 know the posible routes and' the relationships of the added, radio- 

 chemical elements to those which make up the environment. 



The sequence first requires an understanding of the natural system 

 upon which are superimposed the modifying effects of the 

 contaminants. 



