249 



Therefore, we will try to deal primarily with the high-level waste 

 subseabed emplacement issue in the morning, and the low-level 

 waste monitoring issues, to what extent we can, in the afternoon. 



I think it is an important question, and I think that the more we 

 get into it, we realize how short we are in actual facts, and how 

 necessary it is for us to get the proper research going immediately. 



That is all. 



Mr. Studds. Any other members have an opening statement? If 

 not, our first witness is Mr. Leslie H. Brown, Senior Deputy Assist- 

 ant Secretary, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental 

 and Scientific Affairs, Department of State. 



STATEMENT OF LESLIE H. BROWN, SENIOR DEPUTY ASSIST- 

 ANT SECRETARY, BUREAU OF OCEANS AND INTERNATIONAL 

 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT 

 OF STATE 



Mr. Brown. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We want to thank you 

 for inviting the Department of State to appear before the subcom- 

 mittee today. I welcome the opportunity which the subcommittee 

 has provided to discuss the issues associated with the disposal of 

 radioactive waste in the oceans. How we, as a nation, and as a 

 member of the world community, deal with these issues will have a 

 significant effect upon our foreign relations as well as upon our 

 efforts to insure the long-term protection of the marine environ- 

 ment. 



The principal international agreement governing ocean disposal 

 of a wide variety of substances, including radioactive wastes, is the 

 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dump- 

 ing of Wastes and Other Matter. This is the so-called London 

 Dumping Convention. Under the London Dumping Convention, the 

 dumping of high-level radioactive waste is prohibited. Special per- 

 mits are required before other radioactive waste may be dumped. 

 Forty-seven countries now are parties to the London Dumping 

 Convention. This includes the United States. Papua-New Guinea, 

 Surinam, Honduras, and Japan all became parties this year. 



There are also a number of regional conventions dealing with 

 radioactive material which are as strict or stricter than the London 

 Dumping Convention. For example, the Convention on the Protec- 

 tion of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, the so- 

 called Helsinki Convention, prohibits all dumping by the parties 

 except that of dredge spoil; the protocol for the prevention of 

 pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by dumping from ships and 

 aircraft prohibits essentially all dumping by the parties in the 

 Mediterranean. The United States is not a party to these regional 

 dumping agreements. 



The London Dumping Convention relies primarily upon the In- 

 ternational Atomic Energy Agency — IAEA — in carrying out its re- 

 sponsibilities with respect to the sea disposal of radioactive materi- 

 als. 



The London Dumping Convention designates the IAEA as the 

 body to define "high-level radioactive wastes and other matter" 

 whose dumping at sea is prohibited. The current revised definition 

 of such materials was adopted by the fourth consultative meeting 

 of the Convention parties in 1979. It is a definition based upon 



