663 



It is the State Department's view that such regional 

 conventions should be based on appropriate scientific and 

 technical considerations taking into account regional 

 features. There are cases in which characteristic regional 

 features provide appropriate scientific or technical bases for 

 regional restrictions on dumping more stringent than (but 

 consistent with) those contained in the global convention. An 

 example of these would be the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas 

 which are relatively closed and shallow bodies of water in 

 which special precautions are warranted to avoid a dangerous 

 build-up of pollutants. We are presently not aware of any such 

 special regional characteristics in the South Pacific region 

 which would provide a technical or scientific basis for special 

 protection measures beyond those required in the open seas. 



I would note that under the auspices of the South Pacific 

 Regional Environment Program (SPREP), which was adopted by the 

 1982 Conference on the Human Environment in the South Pacific, 

 a technical group was convened to review radioactivity in the 

 South Pacific region to provide the States therein v/ith an 

 "objective and authorative overview" of nuclear matters. As v/e 

 understand it, the group has completed its work and a paper is 

 being translated. From what we have been told, this technical 

 review does not provide a scientific or technical basis to 

 support a ban on radioactive waste disposal in the South 

 Pacific Region. 



