270 



When Dr. William Rowe, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Radiation Programs 

 in EPA, testified before this Subcommittee in 1978, he stated their research has 

 tried to answer two basic questions: 



One: Does the technology exist to precisely survey or monitor a deep ocean site to 

 detect possible releases and movement of radioactive materials? and; 



Two: What was the fate of the radioactive waste packages dumped by the United 

 States under the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) licensing authority between 

 1946 and 1970? EPA has never adequately answered this question. 



First, let's destroy the myth that the only materials the U.S. dumped in the ocean 

 were "low level" radioactive wastes. EPA uses the Ocean Dumping Act definition of 

 "high level radioactive waste" to refute any assertions that high level materials 

 were dumped in the ocean. 



This definition states: "High-level radioactive waste" means the aqueous waste 

 resulting from the operation of the first cycle solvent extraction system, or equiva- 

 lent and the concentrated waste from subsequent extraction cycles, or equivalent, in 

 a facility for reprocessing irradiated reactor fuels, or irradiated fuel from nuclear 

 power reactors. 



This is not a quantitative definition. According to EPA officials you could have a 

 gallon of waste from a nuclear reprocessing facility and a gallon of waste from 

 Berkeley Laboratory, they could be identical in content and radiation emissions, 

 equally deadly, but because the first came from a reprocessing facility it would be 

 defined as "high level" and because the second gallon came from a laboratory it 

 would be "low level". 



Therefore, to get a more representative view of the danger these materials may 

 present, let's use an Atomic Energy Commission definition from their 1955 declassi- 

 fied report on "Radioactive Waste Disposal Practices in the Atomic Energy Indus- 

 try." This report defines 50 millirems or less per hour as "low level," and two rems 

 or more per hour as "high level." By inference, this leaves the spread between 50 

 millirems and 1999 millirems as "intermediate." 



The licenses issued to the disposal companies stated that: 



"The radiation level at any accessible surface of the container shall not exceed 

 200 millirems per hour." So immediately we find that at the exterior surface of the 

 drum a person or marine life form may be exposed to intermediate radiation. 



Next we must examine the types of packaging used to keep the exterior radiation 

 exposures below this 200 millirem requirement. Testimony by John A. Kaufman, a 

 Professor at the University of California Radiation Laboratory at Berkeley, before 

 the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy in 1958, described the methods they used to 

 dispose of all their nuclear wastes — both high and low. He states: 



"All nongaseous waste is packaged in concrete. . . The concrete packages are 

 made so they can be stored safely for an indefinite period and eventually be safely 

 transported by truck to a barge for disposal at sea at a depth of 1000 fathoms (6000 

 feet) . . . The solid wastes from high-level operations are discharged into shielded 

 waste containers." At the waste processing area the waste container is placed "into 

 a specially designed concrete block for sea disposal." The report goes on to say that 

 "High level large- volume aqueous wastes produced during high-level chemistry 

 work . . . are discharged into specially designed and shielded waste 

 containers . . . The wastes are then solidified either in the waste container or in a 

 specially-constructed concrete block." 



An even more detailed example was given in the declassified 1955 AEC report 

 which described the procedures used by the Westinghouse Atomic Power Division — 

 Bettis Field facility in Pittsburgh, Pa., to dispose of their wastes. 



"High level solid wastes are accumulated in specially prepared 55 gallon drums. 

 Sheet metal cylinders four inches in diameter having peripheral lead shields of 

 varying thicknesses (1 inch to 4 inches) are set in 55 gallon drums. Concrete is 

 poured around the shielded cylinder up to its top which is about 12 inches below the 

 top of the drum . . . Operating personnel insert high level wastes as they are 

 created. . . . After each drum receives its' charge of high level waste, a lead plug is 

 inserted into the four inch cylinder prior to removal from the working areas. These 

 drums are then moved to the processing area where they are filled to the top of the 

 drum with concrete. Drums containing high level wastes make up the largest 

 proportion of waste packages shipped from Bettis. . . . Wastes are shipped via a 

 commercial trucking company to the Navy dock at Earle, New Jersey." 



This was the Navy's embarcation location for radioactive materials to be dumped 

 at sea. In 1955 alone Bettis Field packaged 740 high level drums for ocean disposal. 

 Similar procedures were followed by the Brookhaven National Laboratory for the 

 disposal of their "high level" nuclear waste material. 



What we must look at here is not the external radiation levels — but the internal 

 radiation levels — which will threaten the marine environment when the containers 



