689 



page two, radioactive waste duinping 

 ccuments to Rep. D'Amoiirs 



duirpsites. This is a continuing concern of many who realize that the time of 

 greatest release of radionuclides fron the old dunpsites into the marine 

 environment could be during this decade or the next. 



Of particular concern is the fate of the high-level nuclecu: waste lost 

 at sea with the tragic accidents of two US nuclear suhatarines , the Thresher 

 and the Scorpion. Consideration should be given by the EPA to the recovery 

 of the Thresher and its spent reactor fuel fron the Atlantic Ocean, in 

 proximity to one of the worlds most productive fisheries at Georges Bank^. 

 The Navy's finding of only Cobalt 60 at the Threshers debris, if accurate and 

 resulting from a cotprehensive analysis, would indicate that the spent fuel 

 is still contained to date. 



Conservative Navy estimates put the inventory of radioactivity in the 

 Thresher debris at approximately less than 31,000 curies'*. Hcwever, this 

 figure appears unusually and unbelievably low considering that the Threshers 

 reactor would contain a full inventory of fission products (though relatively 

 low amount of actinides as the Navy fuel is highly enriched) . Strontium 90 , 

 Cesium 137, Ruthenium 106 are all fission products that would be present as 

 well as dozens of other elanents of long and short-lived radioactivity. 



In addition, please find attached to this letter a paper written for 

 Greenpeace by Peter J. Taylor of the Political Ecology Research Group in 

 Oxford, England, describing issues surrounding the current IAEA approach to 

 defining wastes suitable for dimping at sea. 



Thank you for your continued attention to these matters. 



Sincerely, 



Joyce E. Rosenthal 

 Caitpciign Coordinator 



