Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-06-21
Virginia Beach Proposed
AS Atomic Dumping Ground
BY WILLIAM HINES
Star Science Writer

.,few miles of Atlantic City and
Virginia Beach be used as
.satomic dumping grounds.
But the academy hedged its
Recommendation with tight re-
etrictions on what kind and
sllow much radioactive waste
should be deposited and the
type Of container to be used.
With these rules followed. the
l academy said, there would be
no danger to people on shore.
I In a report by its Commit
Tee on Oceanography. the
academy listed % possible sites
for the dumping Of "low-level"
Z radioactive waste in coastal
: waters. The sites were chosen
to give ready access to COM
. nercial dumping ships from
.every major port on the Attain
. tic and Gulf coasts.
I The Atlantic City stein 80
fleet of water 1924 miles from
the resort city--would be one of
Sthree serving the ports Of New
York and Philadelphia.
~ The Virginia Beach location
din 66 feet of water 81 miles
soff Little Greek, Va. - would
iserve the Chesapeake Bay and
\ Hampton Roads ports.
=, Hottest" is Excluded
\ No highly radioactive wastes
would be dumped in these
areas. the academy report
stressed. Discussions of what
ITO do with extremely 'hot"
!. atomic garbage are still under
is&ay in scientific circles and
orange from burying it in the
deepest canyons Of the ocean
Ito shooting it into space aboard
special satellites.
4 The report urged that COM
: prehensive studies of currents.
\ sea life. bottom configuration
and other factors be carried
sout before final approval is
I; given to any site. The purpose
'sof such studies would be to
/, make sure that maximum
amounts Of radioactivity are
,lnever exceeded outside the i'm
Immediate area Of dumping.
4 Concrete-lined 55-gallon steel
gdrums would be used to hold
1.-THE waste. The amount of
',radioactivity in any drum
would not exceed 2 CURES.
4 CThe curie is a measure Of
( radioactivity equal to the
| amount of radiation given
4 off by a gram-l/28th of an
I ounce-of radium. In terms
2 Of clicks" of a geiger
Il counter, a curie equals 81
billion nuclear disintegrations
: q second)
/. Ceilings Suggested
! An absolute ceiling of $50
acuries would be placed on the
iamount of material that could
be dumped annually in any
.area. A further restriction
would limit monthly dumping
ito 100 CURES. No more than
three dumping sites would be
permitting along any 300-mile
stretch Of seacoast and 'ldi-
Yidual sites would be at least
rs miles apart. Six locations
were suggested for the busy
area between New York HarborI
and Cape Hatteras.
The low-leVel wastes COW
cred in the report are chiefly
byproducts of university and
industrial laboratories, hospi-
tails and research institutions.
. Too hot to leave lying around.
! they do not need the elaborate
1. disposal precautions required
by used power reactor cores.
For the most part, they con-
I sist of solid materials such as
paper wipes, rags, mops. ashes,
, animal carcasses and contain
I mated laboratory paraphe-
T, MALTA" the report quoted the
. Atomic Energy Commission as
{, saying.
Reason for Choice
In explaining the reason for
. a study of dumping grounds
close to shore. the academy
said:
! in general, marine disposal
concerns are at present not
I; equipped to carry the wastes
several hundred miles to sea,
at least not without a con-
siderable increase in the cost
/ of the service"
Emphasizing that the study
bent over backward in laying
/, out conservative rules for
dumping, the academy said
. that the British pump radio
, active wastes in liquid form
. directly into the Irish Sea with
, no apparent i'll effects.
, THE results indicate that
fission products can be safely
! released in that area at an
, average rate of several hundred
F, CURES a day" the report said.
, In setting safety limits, the
: academy concentrated on the
, artifica1ly produced element
strontium 80, which has figured
prominently in studies Of atomic
fallout.
Strontium 80 Danger
Strontium 80 is particularly
dangerous because of its long
persistence and the fact that.
when taken into the human
body. it tends to concentrate in
the bones.
( The 250-curie annual limit
imposed on the academy report
/ was in terms Of strontium 80
! equivalent. Because different
radioactive substances lose their