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wastes, i.e., (1) land-based alternatives, (2) environmental 

 assessment methodologies and, (3) a definition of de minimus 

 levels of radioactivity, i.e., a level of specific activity below 

 which a substance would not be regarded as radioactive for 

 purposes of the Convention. IAEA announced that a merged report 

 covering the first two of those matters will be issued by the end 

 of 1983, and that the de minimus report would be further reviewed 

 by an advisory group during the summer of 1983. 



At the de minimus advisory group meeting convened by IAEA in 

 Monaco this past July, a report was prepared which contained 

 various recommendations. One recommendation was a proposed 

 definition for 6e_ minimus quantities of radioactivity for 

 consideration by the Convention's Parties, subject to further 

 review of certain dose limitation concerns by the International 

 Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) . The report also 

 addressed the relationship of a ^e^ minimus dose rate to broader 

 radioactivity release rate methods, requesting the IAEA to 

 consider further the application of a release rate concept in 

 relation to its de minimus findings. 



The "release rate" concept, referred to above, is important 

 in relation to the definition of de minimus , but even more 

 important in relation to the definition of high-level radioactive 

 wastes. In 1978, the IAEA issued a revised definition of high- 

 level radioactive wastes, INFCIRC/205/Add.l/Rev. 1, which included 

 the use of release rate calculations that established upper 

 limits on types of radioactivity that could be emitted. That 

 concept focuses on dispersion and dilution as the principal 



