625 



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consideration. In addition, the Department of State-imposed 

 limits on the size of the delegation led to the absurd situation 

 where one U.S. expert, who also happened to be the Chairman of 

 the Convention's Scientific Group on Dumping, was not even an 

 accredited member of the delegation. As a result, it is my 

 personal view that U.S. credibility within the London Dumping 

 Convention was diminished, and that the U.S. missed opportunities 

 to forge support for a moratorium that could have been embraced 

 much more broadly by the United States and others. 

 B. Legality of Seabed Disposal 

 While most of the work at the Seventh Consultative Meeting 

 this past February focused on low-level radioactive waste 

 dumping, several delegations made specific interventions 

 concerning seabed disposal of high-level radioactive wastes. The 

 Norwegian delegation, for example, noted the active seabed 

 disposal R&D program presently underway by nine countries 

 (including the U.S.) and the Commission of European Communities, 

 under the coordination of the OECD/NEA's Seabed Working Group. 

 It also noted that the Seabed Working Group had created a Legal 

 and Institutional Task Team to consider, among other things, the 

 legality of such operations under the London Dumping 

 Convention. Several delegations expressed the view that matters 

 concerning the interpretation and applicability of the Convention 

 in relation to such disposal were the responsibility of the 

 Parties. 



As a result of the deliberations on this issue, a consensus 

 resolution (LDC Resolution 15(4)) was adopted to establish a 



