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Question 



In the NOAA statement submitted £or the record, it is mentioned 

 that a NOAA-sponsored study to examine technologies needed to 

 monitor radioactive waste disposal recommended the development 

 of a reliable automated seaEloor monitoring system. Is NOAA 

 working on this recommendation in conjunction with other 

 Federal agencies or in consultation with private industry? 



Answer 



NOAA is not involved in the development of an automated seafloor 

 monitoring system for this purpose. We are keeping abreast of 

 the related technologies developed in the on-going ISHTE 

 (In-Situ Heat Transfer Experiment) of the Department of Energy 

 and their contractors in which heat-sources will be buried in 

 the deep seabed, NOAA has developed systems for surficial sediment 

 sampling and pore-pressure measurements that could be made a part 

 of such a system and has extensive experience in measuring ocean 

 currents and ocean-floor sediment sampling and seismicity. 

 Another endeavor, supported by funding from EPA, is developing 

 the so-called "SEAFLUME" — a device that measures critical 

 erosion threshold velocity of sediments. This particular tech- 

 nology examines current velocities at which sediments (and 

 adsorbed radionuclides) can be picked up and transported away 

 from dump sites. 



Question 



Please define for the Subcommittee what NOAA's policy is goi-ng 

 to be on the ocean disposal of radioactive waste: How is 

 this policy consistent with the NOAA Ocean Dumping Program? 



Answer 



NOAA's general policy related to the disposal of municipal, 

 industrial, low-level radioactive wastes, and dredged material 

 in the marine environment is that waste disposal practices 

 should be chosen to avoid significant risk of harm to living 

 and nonliving resources in any environmental medium — oceans, 

 land groundwater, fresh water, air. If it is determined that 

 disposal is the preferred option for a potential waste problem, 

 then disposal practices likely to cause the least risk of sig- 

 nificant harm, regardless of medium, should be chosen. NOAA 

 does not oppose selection of the ocean as a disposal site if 

 comparative assessment of all reasonable disposal option in- 

 dicates that the ocean option poses the least risk of signifi- 

 cant harm. If disposal in the ocean is currently causing or 

 contributes to conditions that cause significant risk of 

 harm to the marine environment, NOAA urges the timely assess- 

 ment of alternative disposal practices and the selection of 

 an environmentally acceptable practices. 



