by the Sub-Committee on Marine Science and its 

 Applications of the Administrative Committee on 

 Co-ordination (ACC) of the United Nations Eco- 

 nomic and Social Council.^ 



FAO, UNESCO (IOC) and IMCO have agreed to 

 establish a Joint Group of Experts on the Scien- 

 tific Aspects of Marine Pollution.'* Membership in 

 the Joint Group is open to all other agencies of the 

 United Nations family interested in pollution 

 problems.* 



B. Framework Applicable to Nuclear Pollution 



1. Article 25 of the Convention on the High 

 Seas requires States Parties to: 



Take measures to prevent pollution of the seas 

 from the dumping of radioactive waste, taking into 

 account any standards and regulations which may 

 be formulated by the competent international 

 organizations; and 



Cooperate with the competent international 

 organizations in taking measures for the preven- 

 tion of pollution of the seas or air space above, 

 resulting from any activities with radioactive mate- 

 rials or other harmful agents. 



2. The 1958 United Nations Conference on the 

 Law of the Sea adopted a resolution relating to 

 Article 25 of the Convention on the High Seas, 

 recommending that: 



The International Atomic Energy Agency, in 

 consultation with existing groups and established 

 organs having competence in the field of radio- 

 logical protection, should pursue whatever studies 

 and take whatever action is necessary to assist 

 states in controlling the discharge or release of 

 radioactive materials to the sea, in promulgating 

 standards, and in drawing up internationally ac- 

 ceptable regulations to prevent pollution of the sea 

 by radioactive materials in amounts which would 

 adversely affect man and his marine resources. * 



In 1958, IAEA convened its first Panel on 

 Radioactive Waste Disposal into the Sea, com- 

 posed of 11 scientific experts. The Panel published 

 its report in 1959, recommending that IAEA 

 establish an adequate register of disposal of radio- 

 active waste into the sea and consider the legal and 

 organizational measures for international control 

 of radioactive marine disposal.^ 



In 1961, IAEA took three additional steps to 

 discharge its responsibilities. First, it tried to 

 obtain the information on the nature and amount 

 of radioactive waste being released into the sea 

 that was necessary to establish the recommended 

 register, but the response of its member States was 

 inadequate.* Then it set up a panel on the Legal 

 ImpUcations of Disposal of Radioactive Wastes in- 

 to the Sea, which, in 1963, produced two different 

 drafts of a report reflecting the two diverging 

 views on the permissibility of disposing radioactive 

 waste into the sea under general principles of 

 international law.^ Finally, it estabUshed a panel 

 to indicate or devise suitable techniques to survey 

 and monitor the presence of radioactive substances 

 in the sea and marine products.^" The panel 

 reported in 1962, suggesting standard methods of 

 assessing radioactive contamination levels so that 

 measurements in all parts of the world's oceans 

 may be readily comparable.' * 



3. In Europe, both the European Nuclear 

 Energy Agency and the European Atomic Energy 

 Community (Euratom) are also studying the prob- 

 lems of radioactive waste disposal into the 

 ocean.* ^ Euratom has the power to "issue direc- 

 tives to prevent the basic standards [it may 

 estabUsh, by regulation, to assure safe disposal] 

 from being exceeded and to secure compUance 

 with the regulations." 



See generally, id.. Annex XIV. 

 '^Id. at 83. 



^Id., Annex XIV, at 4. 

 ^Document A/Conf. 13/L. 56. 



' Radioactive Waste Disposal in the Sea, IAEA Safety 

 Series No. 5 (1959). 



^Report of UN Secretary General, supra note 2, 

 Annex XI, at 44-45. 



Id. at 45. On this question, see also McDougal and 

 Burke, The Public Order of the Oceans 852-68 (1962). 



'"Report of UN Secretary General, supra note 2, at 

 45. 



' 'Methods of Surveying and Monitoring Marine 

 Radioactivity, IAEA Safety Series No. 11 (1962). 



'^EURATOM's First General Report 72 (1958). 



VIII-80 



