542 



14 

 appendix on future techniques of waste disposal. The statement was then 



deleted from subsequent IAEA recommendations, presumably in part because 



of the U.S. objection and also apparently because of difficulties of 



developing a definition of emplacement in or beneath the seabed. 



Furthermore, it does not appear that IAEA would have the legal autho- 

 rity to construe the scope of the Convention's application to specific 

 disposal activities. Although Annex I calls for IAEA to oefine which 

 wastes should be considered as HLW "unsuitable for dumping at sea," Art. 

 Xrv, Sec. (4) (b) of the Convention defines the authority of the IAEA as 

 advisory with respect only to "any scientific or technical aspect of the 

 Annexes". While this section gives the IAEA authority to advise the parties 

 to the Convention concerning what substances should be considered HLW within 

 the prohibition of Art. IV, Sec. (1) (a) , and may give the IAEA authority 

 to advise the parties to what extent sub-seabed disposal would represent 

 an isolation of the disposed wastes from the marine environment, it does 

 not appear to give IAEA authority to define the scope of the Convention 

 even if technical considerations are involved. 



The present IAEA recommendations to IMCO on revising the definition 



of high-level waste in Annex I of the Convention and the dumping criteria 



of Annex III do not include any reference to sub-seabed disposal. The 



recommendations state only: 



Nothing in this Document shall be considered as encouraging 

 the dumping at sea of radioactive waste or other radioactive 

 matter. ^^ (Emphasis in original.) 



Although IAEA may have no formal role in determining whether the Con- 

 vention applies to sub-seabed disposal of HLW, IAEA recommendations will 

 however be influential in creating the climate in which such proposals 



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