264 



Mr. Brown. Well, let me answer first by saying that we do not 

 encourage anybody to dump low-level waste in the Pacific, the 

 Atlantic, or any other ocean. 



On the other hand, Japan, as a member of the London Dumping 

 Convention, has made very clear that it will abide by all of the 

 procedures and recommendations, the guidelines of the London 

 Dumping Convention, and of the [IAEA.] 



There is, therefore, no international law we can cite to prevent 

 Japan from carrying out this dumping under the convention, which 

 permits it. 



Mr. Akaka. Has the United States been in contact with Pacific 

 Island Nations regarding nuclear waste disposal? 



Mr. Brown. Yes, indeed, we have. 



I might add, the Japanese have, as well. Our consultations with 

 the various Pacific nations have been primarily on this other activ- 

 ity that I mentioned earlier, that is the Pacific Basin joint spent 

 fuel feasibility study for land-based, that is surface, disposal, inter- 

 im storage of spent reactor fuel. That would not be underwater. 

 That would be on an island, if it turns out to be feasible. 



We have discussed that 2-year study with, virtually all of the 

 Pacific Basin countries, including with the Government of Hawaii, 



Mr. Akaka. Besides Japan, are there other countries in the 

 Pacific Basin, bordering the Pacific Ocean, that are studying, or 

 contemplating ocean disposal of radioactive waste? 



Mr. Brown. Not that we are aware of. But I do note that neither 

 Korea, nor the government on Taiwan, are parties to the conven- 

 tion, and yet they are both quite active in the nuclear field; they 

 both have active nuclear power programs. So they must at least 

 have considered it, although, to our knowledge, none has occurred 

 except for one case. The Koreans did admit to dumping a few 

 barrels off the Korean coast on a trial basis sometime ago, of low- 

 level wastes, but we have no evidence of organized dumping efforts. 



Mr. Akaka. What about the Philippines? 



Mr. Brown. Not to my knowledge, sir. 



Mr. Akaka. You said earlier that plutonium is within the defini- 

 tion of low-level waste convention. Will plutonium be dumped by 

 the Japanese within the next year? 



Mr. Brown. I do not know that we know what the composition of 

 the Japanese material will be, although we could probably ask 

 them. 



Mr. Akaka. Thank you very much. 



Mr. Studds. Thank you. 



Let me ask you two quick questions for the record, if I may. 



With regard to the situation in the Northeast Atlantic dumping 

 site, can you assure us, one way or the other, as to the European 

 reaction to U.S. studies and monitoring of that dumping. Would 

 that be looked upon favorably by the European parties to that 

 action? 



Mr. Brown. If we just did it unilaterally? 



Mr. Studds. Or would we be able to secure their cooperation? Is 

 it something that they would look upon favorably? 



Mr. Brown. We would hope to do it in collaboration with the 

 Nuclear Energy Agency. They have said they will undertake this 

 monitoring effort and, in April, we would hope to put it together. 



