354 



site areas, received between 95 and 98 percent of all the radioactivity dumped. 

 Three of these sites are in the Atlantic: one is in Massachusetts Bay, another one is 

 about 120 miles off the Maryland-Delaware Coast, and another site is about 200 

 miles off the Maryland-Delaware Coast. The fourth dumpsite area that received 

 large quantities of radioactivity is near the Farallon Islands at a distane of more 

 than forty miles offshore from San Francisco, California. It now appears that this 

 large Pacific dumpsite is an area in excess of 500 square miles and that it contains 

 several reported radioactive waste disposal locations. Further details concerning the 

 dumpsites and other information on ocean dumping of low-level radioactive wastes 

 are provided in the Fact Sheet I have appended to this testimony. It is an updated 

 version of a Fact Sheet we previously have made available. 



UNITED STATES AND INTERNATIONAL CONTROLS 



Prior to 1970, the ocean disposal of radioactive material was under the control of 

 the AEC. In 1970, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued a report to 

 the President calling for a national policy on ocean dumping. It recommended a 

 continuing prohibition on the dumping of high-level radioactive waste in the ocean. 

 It further stated that "Dumping other radioactive materials in the ocean would be 

 prohibited except in a very few cases for which no practical alternative offers less 

 risk to man and his environment." This concept has governed the U.S. policy on this 

 matter for the last decade. 



In December 1971 the AEC amended its regulations (10 CFR Part 20.302) to 

 reflect the CEQ proposals regarding sea disposal, as follows: "The Commission will 

 not approve any application for a license for disposal of licensed material at sea 

 unless the applicant shows that sea disposal offers less harm to man or the environ- 

 ment than other practical alternative methods of disposal." 



In 1972 Congress passed Public Law 92-532, the Marine Protection, Research, and 

 Sauctuaries Act, commonly called the "Ocean Dumping Act." It prohibited the 

 dumping of high-level radioactive waste and radiological warfare agents. The Act is 

 administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and all materials not 

 specifically prohibited from ocean disposal are subject to its permit review authori- 

 ty. Low-level radioactive wastes are one example of such materials. 



In 1973, pursuant to the Ocean Dumping Act, EPA issued broad policy guidance 

 in the form of regulations (40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter H, Part 227) regarding sea 

 disposal of low level radioactive waste. The basic requirements in those regulations 

 were isolation and containment of the radioactive isotopes to prevent their direct 

 dispersion and dilution in ocean waters. The regulations also required that the 

 containment system function until the radiodecay of the waste to innocuous levels. 

 These same requirements were contained in EPA's revised regulations in 1977. 

 These requirements are intended to reduce the risk to man and the marine environ- 

 ment from any future ocean disposal practice. Although special containers, such as 

 steel drums with concrete caps, were used in the earlier U.S. sea disposal oper- 

 ations, there was neither a requirement nor an expectation that the material would 

 remain in the drums. The material was expected to be released eventually as the 

 drums and the concrete deteriorated. 



In 1972 the International Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by 

 Dumping of Wastes and other Matter was developed. This is the so called London 

 Dumping Convention. It was ratified by the United States in 1974, and it came into 

 force in 1975. It now has been ratified by 32 nations with accessions by another 14 

 nations. This Convention provided for the first international control over sea dispos- 

 al of radioactive waste. In the Convention the International Atomic Energy Agency 

 is designated as the responsible body for developing the specific technical require- 

 ments and definitions. Within the text of this Convention there is a specific prohibi- 

 tion on the sea disposal of high-level radioactive waste or other high-level radioac- 

 tive matter, as these terms are defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency. 



HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL IN THE OCEANS 



You have asked us to consider the question of disposing of high-level radioactive 

 waste in the ocean — be it on or in the sea floor. It is EPA's opinion that use of the 

 ocean for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste is currently prohibited, both 

 under the proscribed activities of the Ocean Dumping Act (PL 92-532) and the 

 dictates of the London Dumping Convention. With your permission, I would like to 

 submit for the record copies of internal EPA documents describing the basis for our 

 opinions on sea disposal of high-level waste. The high-level waste material prohibit- 

 ed from disposal is defined in the Ocean Dumping Act as "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, 



