477 



-14- 



oceanographic model currently applied to predict the dispersion 

 of pollutants in the ocean, issuance of a technical document 

 in early 1981 to qualify and supplement packaging requirements, 

 development of a definition of de minumus radiation, and 

 publication in early 1981 of "Criteria for Selection, Manage- 

 ment and Surveillance of Ocean Dumping Sites" to fulfill 

 Annex III of the London Dumping Convention. These items are 

 important to EPA's regulatory program, in particular, and 

 deserve our thorough review. The U.S. will need to urge the 

 IAEA to assimilate any changes that are necessary, both now and 

 in the future, just as it is currently pressing for further 

 revision of IAEA's 1978 Definitions and Recommendations to 

 accommodate later scientific and policy developments. As in the 

 past, the U.S. must continue to persuade the contracting parties 

 to the London Dumping Convention to accept certain safeguards 

 and ideas which many have been reluctant to embrace, 

 including an international register of all radioactive waste 

 dumped into the oceans, a global limit on the number Qf dump 

 sites, and an unambiguous understanding that environmental 

 assessments are required in the notification of a country's 

 intention to dump. Finally, the United States should 

 oppose the continued use of the Northeast Atlantic dumpsite 

 by the NEA if an adequate monitoring system, including mandatory 

 neutral observers, is not established by the time of the NEA's 

 April, 1981 Steering Committee meetings. 



