530 



3 



Che Act, including low-level raaioactive wastes. Although EPA 



published criteria for radioactive materials in 1973 as a draft and as 

 final ocean dumping regulations in 1V7 7, this Agency has not yet 

 received a permit application for such materials. Consequently, we 

 have not made any decisions on the acceptability of ocean disposal of 

 radioactive materials by the United States. We have had studies 

 underway since 1974 to help provide a scientific basis for evaluating 

 permit applications. These include studies performed for us by 

 national laboratories, universities, and private contractors and 

 surveys of old U.S. ocean dumpsites for radioactive materials. I will 

 briefly review EPA's continuing and new research studies. 



Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) 



Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, 

 IS gathering data on radioactivity in marine biota and evaluating 

 possible biological effects on marine organisms that may result from 

 low levels of nuclear radiation. 



LLNL has been compiling a comprehensive report for EPA from a 

 literature survey of background concentrations of selected 

 radionuclides in sea water, sediments, and marine fish and 

 invertebrates. This report will also include laboratory and 

 f leid-derived bioconcentration factors for these marine biota. Such 

 data will allow us to estimate the amount of radioactive materials that 

 marine organisms could accumulate in relation to a given amount in the 



