53 



Primarily, the difficulty has been ignorance. Until the real value of 

 the oceans was broadly recognized as a world resource, relatively little 

 effort was put forth in either monitoring or research. 



For example, consider the case of strontium-90 (Sr^°), a product 

 of nuclear testing, which has been distributed all over the world in fall- 

 out. Since the beginning of the fallout study programs, approximately 

 1 analysis for Sr^° pollution on land was carried out for every 2,000 

 square miles, an area about 45 miles by 35 miles. 



In the sea, by comparison, we only did about 1 per 15,000 square 

 miles, about 120 miles by 120 miles. Even further, in the sea we have 

 the added dimension of depth. Accounting for the entire volume of the 

 world ocean, we find that on the average, one strontium-90 analysis has 

 been made for every 3 times lO^'' gallons of water; or to put it another 

 way, approximately 1 sam])le for a body of water the size of Hudson 

 Bav, and less than 10 for the entire Gulf of Mexico. 



It should be mentioned that studies of oceanic pollution have also 

 been inhibited by the difficulties and therefore, high costs inherent 

 in working at sea. Obtaining samples of seawater and sediment, par- 

 ticularly from great depths is a complex business and these are among 

 the most troublesome materials to analyze chemically. 



In retrospect, it does not seem too surprising, therefore, that studies 

 of radioactive ocean pollution have lagged. At this time, however, there 

 does seem to be some indication of increasing activity in this field, 

 mainly related to the environmental impact of nuclear power gener- 

 ation. 



The major portion of the testimony to follow was culled from five 

 published documents : 



1. Environmental Effects of Producing Electric Power Hearings 

 before the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, 91st Congress — 1970. 



2. Radioactivity in the Marine Environment; National Academy of 

 Sciences— 1971. 



3. Impingement of Man on the Oceans, edited by Donald W. Hood ; 

 Wiley-Interscience — 1971. 



4. A Guide to Marine Pollution, compiled by Edward G. Goldberg; 

 Gordon and Breach- — 1972. 



5. Ionizing Radiation: Levels and Effects, Volume I; United Na- 

 tions Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation — 1972. 



The two significant sources of radioactive pollution of the oceans 

 are: (1) nuclear explosives: and (2) nuclear reactors, fuel reprocess- 

 ing and waste management. 



There are a number of other sources such as leaks, and Avaste from 

 medical research, and industrial radioisotope applications, and radio- 

 isotopic power sources. The total contribution of these to the oceans 

 is negligible at this time. 



With respect to nuclear explosives: More than several hundred 

 radioactive isotopes are produced in an atomic explosion, both by the 

 process of nuclear fission, and by activation of the environment by 

 neutrons from the bomb. 



For the most part, however, the produced species have relatively 

 short half-lives — radioactive elements disappear by decaying to a stable 

 form at a constant rate, called half life. Hence, considering long term, 

 global scale pollution effects, most of them can be neglected. 



