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activity. Several methods appear feasible for emplacing wastes at 

 depths of about 10 to 30 meters beneath the sediment surface. 

 Though none of the methods has been developed in detail, at this 

 time, we are considering free-fall penetrators, power injection, and 

 trenching or drilling. 



It is clear that much additional research and development is 

 needed before the feasibility of the concept will be demonstrated. 

 Two key questions must be answered in order to demonstrate tech- 

 nical feasibility and environmental acceptability of subseabed dis- 

 posal. First, is there a barrier or set of barriers, natural or man- 

 made, that will offer satisfactory containment of radionuclides? 

 Second, will these barriers remain adequate after introduction of 

 waste containers? The natural barriers under consideration include 

 the canister, the waste form, and the use of layers such as over- 

 packs. Although no definite conclusions have been reached, at pres- 

 ent subseabed disposal appears to be a viable disposal option. Ac- 

 cordingly, the subseabed disposal program is a multidisciplinary 

 effort to identify technical, institutional, legal and regulatory 

 issues which must be addressed and resolved on a national and 

 international basis. A multiyear subseabed program plan, issued in 

 January 1980, outlines in some detail the current and planned 

 activities. 



The United States leads the world in ocean drilling for research 

 purposes. The International Phase of the Ocean Drilling under the 

 management of the National Science Foundation with support 

 from the Federal Republic of Germany, the United Kingdom, 

 France, Japan, and the Soviet Union, has resulted in a greatly 

 increased knowledge of the ocean floors. 



A final environmental impact statement on the management of 

 commercially generated radioactive waste has recently been made 

 available to Congress and the public. This statement will serve as 

 the environmental basis for a formal decision on whether to adopt 

 our proposed high level commercial waste strategy, which is based 

 on the disposal of radioactive waste in mined geologic repositor- 

 ies — with the alternative subseabed disposal concept also assessed 

 as a future alternative. 



The DOE subseabed disposal program budget for fiscal year 1981 

 is $6.9 million. Our principal near-term milestones are: First, in 

 1981, we plan to select three regional areas in the North Atlantic 

 and North Pacific and, within those areas, select one or more 

 smaller areas in each ocean for more detailed study; and second, 

 complete fabrication and design verification testing of an in situ 

 heat transfer experiment for field testing by late 1983. The explora- 

 tory studies and subprogram testing that we will be conducting 

 under the subseabed disposal program subject the public to no risk 

 at all. No radioactive waste will be emplaced at this stage. 



In the international activity, an integral part of the subseabed 

 disposal program is the international cooperative research and de- 

 velopment which is coordinated through the Seabed Working 

 Group of the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Eco- 

 nomic Cooperation and Development. That working group current- 

 ly consists of six nations — Canada, France, Japan, Netherlands, 

 United States, with West Germany and Switzerland participating 

 as observers. The objectives of the working group are to provide a 



