545 



(2) The Effect of Other Provisions of the Convention on Sub-Seabed 

 Disposal 



(a) Emergency permits. 

 Art. V of the Convention creates an exception to the general prohibi- 

 tion on disposal of HLW at sea. Under Sec. 2 of this article, a State 

 peirty to the Convention may issue a special permit for disposal of HLW "in 

 emergencies, posing unacceptable risk relating to hximan health and admitting 

 no other feasible solution." This exception is accompanied by consultation 

 and notification requirements that have been described supra . While this 

 emergency permit provision would not appear on its face to allow for dis- 

 posal of HLW at sea based simply on geographical factors or a difficult 

 storage situation, the U.S. has entered a formal reservation to this section 

 which may somewhat expand its scope. 



The United States understands that the word "emergency" as used 

 in Article V, 2 refers to situations requiring action with a 

 marked degree of urgency, but is not limited in its application 

 to circumstances requiring immediate action. 2-'- 



While the U.S. reservation on this point may create a technical loop- 

 hole that would allow sub-seabed disposal of HLW even if sub-seabed dispo- 

 sal were determined to be disposal "at sea," it would be unlikely that a 

 party to the Convention, or even a nonparty like Japan, would proceed with 

 a systematic waste disposal system based on sub-seabed disposal relying 

 solely on "chronic" factors of a geographical nature, such as shortage of 



available land or satisfactory geological formations for long-term storage 



22 



of HLW. The exception, and the U.S. reservation to it, could however 



be read as permitting sub-seabed disposal, as well as ordinary marine 

 disposal, in situations with some unspecified degree of "urgency." 



