to consider waters within an arbitrary twelve miles from the coastline 

 in a different category from the waters of the outer continental shelf. 

 It must be pointed out, however, that this outer continental shelf will 

 very likely be utilized in the disposal of packaged waste material. 

 Hence nuclear-powered ships are not the only potential source of radio- 

 active material for these waters. 



Considerations relative to the open sea : Ocean areas more than 

 12 miles from shore and in which depths exceed 200 fathoms are here 

 considered as open sea. In the open sea there are large areas which 

 do not contribute materially to the commercial fisheries. There are, 

 however, other large areas within which important oceanic fisheries 

 operate, for example the Pacific tuna fishery. The open sea is now 

 being utilized for the disposal of packaged waste material, though these 

 wastes sink to the bottom and the possibility of any significant activity 

 reaching the productive surface layers is slight. Under present doctrine 

 regarding the containment of high level wastes on land, it appears that 

 waste disposal from nuclear-powered ships will be the major source of 

 radioactive wastes introduced into the surface layers of the open sea. 



Subdivision of the Marine Environment : On the basis of the above 

 considerations the sea has been divided into six zones, which differ one 

 from another either in terms of potential contribution to the food supply 

 of a selected portion of the population, or in terms of importance as a 

 potential receiver of wastes from sources other than nuclear-powered 

 ships, or in terms of the restrictions placed on dispersal within the 

 zone due to physical boundaries. These zones, together with the as- 

 sumptions required for computation of the partial permissible concen- 

 tration in seafood in each of the zones, resulting from the operation of 

 nuclear-powered ships, are listed below: 



Zone 1 . Harbors, estuaries, and inshore waters within 2 miles of 

 the coastline. For this zone the assumption is made that a selected 

 portion of the population receives all its protein requirement from sea- 

 food harvested from these waters. It is further assumed that 30 per- 

 cent of the maximum permissible dose which this population may re- 

 ceive as a result of sea disposal may be allotted to waste disposal op- 

 erations from nuclear ships in these waters. 



Zone 2 . The coastal area, between 2 and 12 miles from the shore- 

 line. For this zone the same assumptions are made as for Zone 1. 

 This zone differs from Zone 1 in that the dispersion is less restricted 

 by physical boundaries. 



Zone 3a . The outer continental shelf, beyond 12 miles from 

 shoreline, having depths less than 200 fathoms, in known fishing areas. 

 For this zone the assumption is made again that a selected portion of 

 the population receives all its protein requirement from seafood har- 

 vested in these waters. It is further assumed that three-fifths of the 

 maximum permissible dose which this population may receive as a re- 

 sult of sea disposal may be allotted to waste disposal operations from 

 nuclear-powered ships in these waters. 



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