US considers ocean dumping of radwastes

The US could soon resume dumping radioactive materials into the oceans. The Navy has expressed an interest in getting rid of the radioactive reactors of old nuclear submarines by scuttling the vessels in deep water, and the Department of Energy is looking to the seas as a potential repository for thousands of tons of slightly contaminated soil from the cleanup of abandoned atomic weapons facilities. This could ease the way for a resumption of marine disposal of waste material from commercial operations too. These possibilities have begun to stir up opposition from environmentalist groups, and EPA, which is responsible for regulating ocean dumping is at the center of the turmoil. Currently plans are to dump only limited amounts and types of radwastes from government programs, however, opponents are concerned that if these plans are allowed to go ahead, they may be a prelude to more extensive dumping. EPA's regulations, which were published in 1977 and are still in force, make it difficult to dump anything into the oceans; however, EPA is rewriting the regulations. The revisions are based on the principle that ocean dumping, like other actions that affect the environment, should be governed by cost-benefit analysis. The revisions were also prompted by the desire to bring US policy into line with international law, in this case the London Dumping Convention. The chief thrust of the proposed regulations it to incorporate the LDC ocean dumping rules into US law. One important result would be to change the way that low-level wastes are defined for the purpose of ocean dumping. EPA's new ocean dumping regulations are sure to attract a lot of interest and controversy