RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL INTO 
ATLANTIC AND GULF COASTAL WATERS 
SUMMARY 
A study has been made of the feasibility of using selected areas in 
the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastal waters of the United States as 
receiving grounds for the disposal of packaged, low level radioactive 
wastes. 
The primary objective of the study has been to provide an esti- 
mate of the rate of return of radioactive substances to man, arising 
from stated rates of disposal into the coastal areas. The limiting rate 
of disposal has been taken as that which through a combination of physi- 
cal and biological processes will return the radioactivity to man at a 
rate equal to the maximum permissible rate of ingestion of a given ra- 
dionuclide in drinking water. 
These rates were based on the occupational MPC's (maximum 
permissible concentration) given in Handbook 52 (3). The MPC's for 
the general population according to recent information should be low- 
ered by a factor of 10. The revised MPC's of some isotopes may be 
reduced even further. It is believed, however, that the conservative 
assumptions contained in this report offset the effects of these reduc- 
tions in MPC values. 
The present practice of using 55 gallon steel drums as disposal 
canisters containing the waste mixed with concrete is estimated to pro- 
vide containment of approximately 10 years, during which time radio- 
active decay will have destroyed all radioisotopes (based upon Oak 
Ridge National Laboratories current rate of production and shipment) 
to below hazardous levels, with the exception of Sr 90, Cs 137, and pos- 
sibly Co 60. 
Coastal circulation is not known in sufficient detail to provide 
quantitative estimates of the rate of transport of a contaminant out of 
any of the areas selected as possible disposal sites. These estimates 
can be made only after detailed circulation studies have been completed. 
Especially lacking is knowledge of the circulation of bottom waters. 
Nevertheless, several areas stand out as being probably unsuited as 
disposal sites. They are the coastal estuaries and bays, and the regions 
immediately seaward of these areas. Shoreward transport along the 
bottom in these regions would tend to intensify the rate of return of a 
contaminant to man. Also, a region southeast of Long Island, extending 
out to approximately 50 fathoms, appears to have restricted bottom 
