59 



It would be inappropriate to attempt to express here the levels of 

 radioactivity that would be expected alono; the California coast if, for 

 example, the effluent now coming from a nuclear station such as that 

 one at Windscale, United Kingdom, were released to the sea at a point 

 just south of the border. It will be better to sug-jjest only that should 

 the British disposal method be chosen, then their very thorough en- 

 vironmental survey disciplines also must be insisted upon. 



These would have to be carried out effectively on both sides of the 

 border, requiring some international cooperation. The Ignited King- 

 dom plan is a truly austere one whose major concern is to public health 

 and which explicitly states that possible damage to the environmental 

 resources are relatively unimportant. 



It was adopted in 1959, aiming at achievement irrespective of finan- 

 cial cost. However, it does include exploring all possible pathways 

 to humans for each suspected nuclide released to the environment. This 

 hazard-restricting plan just might be expensive to carry out along 

 the border*. 



Before concluding I would like to make another small point about 

 coastal disposals in general. I add this out of fear that I may have 

 ovei-stressed the fact that a large part of the California coast is still 

 relatively clean. 



This may not be true near our outfalls. We are several de<"ades now 

 into the nuclear age, yet we are now finding out that we have kept 

 some of our environmental input records rather poorly. 



In fact, there has been a shamefully unnecessaiT loss of data follow- 

 ing construction of our coastal plants, especially i-egarding the very 

 first outputs and first responses of the downstream environment after 

 the starting of operations. Infonuation of this type is most important 

 for appraising plans for later load expansions. 



Incidentally, there is a proposal to expand the San Onofre plant 

 double and then doubled again as soon as possible. 



I will recite one final incident that may make clear my point. Some- 

 what over a year ago I listened to an engineer, associated with one of 

 our oldest coastal nucVar power reactors, describe the features of that 

 plant and its past opei-ating procedures. 



This was during a review of plans for beginning some environ- 

 mental studies. The flow of salt water past this plant, located at the 

 very mouth of Humboldt Bay, alternates with the tides, sometimes 

 going outward immediately into the sea, sometimes coming inwards 

 so as to flood the miles of tidal flats, whose ecological changes now were 

 lO be studied in great depth using elaborate computer methods. 



I soon realized that this engineer was describing plant operating 

 procedures of the past that did not require any recourse to the tide 

 table. For many years, low level radioactive wastes had merely been 

 dischar-ged at any convenient time. Some flowed immediately out to 

 sea, but another- fi-action, a f r-action appar-ently com):)letely unr-ecorded, 

 had flowed with the incoming tide o\er- the mud flats and that now 

 were to be studied ecologically. A record of gr*eat value to this study 

 had been lost. 



When I asked about this, I Avas told simply that this was a common 

 practice and that it was legal. 



