with conventional hull and machinery inspection and maintenance 

 schedules. Liquid wastes associated with refueling will generally in- 

 clude drainage from the primary system, together with effluents from 

 decontamination of reactor components and fuel handling facilities. 



As additional experience is obtained in the operation of both land- 

 based and shipboard reactor systems, changes will undoubtedly be made 

 in design criteria, selection of materials, and other factors influencing 

 the character and volume of wastes. Other types of reactors will un- 

 doubtedly be used in some future nuclear-powered ship designs. Thus 

 there are now in progress several feasibility studies of the use of or- 

 ganic-moderated and gas-cooled nuclear reactors. The character and 

 amount of wastes w^hich might be introduced to the marine environment 

 from such future designs cannot be stated accurately now. It is believed 

 that these general conclusions can be utilized in formulating design 

 criteria and operating doctrine, with respect to waste disposal into the 

 marine environment, for such future types of marine reactors. The 

 specific considerations presented here are primarily directed towards 

 the presently planned water-cooled marine reactors. 



DEFINITION OF THE TERM "WASTES" 



In the normal operation of a nuclear-powered ship, as with any 

 conventionally powered ship, liquid effluent will originate from a num- 

 ber of sources. Thus considerable quantities of sea water are circu- 

 lated through the steam condenser, and discharged back to the marine 

 environment. Sanitary wastes and water used to wash down the decks 

 and for similar normal operating purposes are usually discharged over- 

 board. These liquid effluents would not normally contain any radioac- 

 tivity resulting from the operation of the nuclear power plant, though it 

 is conceivable that some human or mechanical failure could alter this. 



It therefore is desirable, from a practical standpoint, to state 

 some criteria serving to clarify, within the scope of this report, whether 

 a particular effluent could be considered as a radioactive waste or not. 

 For this purpose the following working definition is proposed: 



A liquid effluent shall be classed as a radioactive waste if the 

 activity of the undiluted effluent exceeds the mpc values for drinking 

 water for the general public as given in Title 10, Chapter 1, Part 20 , 

 Code of Federal Regulations, Revised 1959 (proposed ). 



Solid materials such as trash and garbage are normally dis- 

 charged overboard from ships at sea. Such material would not be ex- 

 pected to have any activity originating from the operation of the nuclear 

 power plant. In order to cover any eventuality, this working panel sug- 

 gests that: 



Solid materials discharged to the ocean shall be classed as radio- 

 active wastes if the total activity of any whole solid segment exceeds 

 the total activity which would be contained by an equal volume of water 

 having mpc values for drinking water for the occupational worker as 



