deep ocean. We cannot specify any of the marine environraents from 

 the land out to the deeper parts of the slopes of the continental shelf 

 which are absolutely devoid of exploited or exploitable food resources, 

 especially as world populations and food needs continue to expand. 



GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ON CRITERIA OF ACCEPTABILITY 



The International Commission on Radiological Protection and the 

 U.S. National Committee on Radiation Protection have estimated the 

 majcimum permissible total body burden of various radio-isotopes axid 

 the corresponding maximum permissible concentrations in drinking 

 water. These have been published by the U. S. National Committee in 

 Handbook 52 of the National Bureau of Standards (1953). A revision by 

 the International Commission on Radiological Protection is under prep- 

 aration; data from this forthcoming revision have been utilized by AEC 

 in preparing tables contained in Title 10, Chapter 1, Part 20, Code of 

 Federal Regulations, Revised 1959 (proposed). 



Permissible concentrations in the marine environment are usu- 

 ally calculated on the basis of these maximum permissible body burdens 

 or maximum permissible concentrations in drinking v/ater by: (1) as- 

 suming a factor relating maximum permissible exposure of the general 

 population to the maximum permissible exposure as an occupationad 

 hazard (Dunster, 1956, for example, used a factor of l/lO; Carritt, et 

 al. , 1958, use the rape's in Handbook 52); (2) calculating, from reason- 

 able and conservative assumptions, the quantity of radionuclides that 

 will reach man from given quantities in the environment. By further 

 considering the relationship between the rate of introduction of a nu- 

 clide and the resulting concentration in the environment, there can 

 finally be estimated the maximum permissible rate of discharge into 

 the environment. 



This is a reasonable procedure and is similar to the one that we 

 have followed. However, it should not be assumed that the maximum 

 permissible rate of discharge of nuclides into the environment is the 

 sole criterion for determining the acceptable rate of discharge. The 

 acceptable discharge should be that quantity, less than the maximum 

 permissible , which is reasonable, taking into account the cost of re- 

 ducing the quantity. In some cases where the cost of alternatives is 

 low and the advantages to be gained by such alternatives are great, the 

 acceptable discharge of radioactive wastes may be zero . This is em- 

 phasized because, although it has been repeatedly pointed out by other 

 committees dealing with such problems, it has often been ignored. 



Both the International Commission on Radiological Protection 

 (1950) and the U. S. National Committee on Radiation Protection (1953) 

 have recommended that exposure to any type of radiation be kept to the 

 lowest level deemed possible or practicable. Evidence that there may 

 be no threshold value for radiation damage, either somatic or genetic, 

 led the U. N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation 

 (1958) to the conclusion that any amount of radiation, no matter how 

 small, may be harmful in some degree. 



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