20
the disposal of high-level radioactive wastes.
The Committee on
Oceanography for the National Academy of Sciences has recommended
a program in oceanography for the years 1960-70.
Part of the
program is for the study of radioactivity and has been planned with
the expectation that the oceans may be used as a disposal area for
high-level radioactive wastes.
The section on “Radioactivity in
the Ocean" from Chapter I of the report by the Committee on Oceanography of the National Academy of Sciences
an appendix to this report.
(1959)
is included as
Fulfillment of the recommended program
also would provide answers to questions regarding fallout in the
ocean.
A study that is in process and will be reported in the near
future is the radiological analysis of 2700 tuna samples from the
Western Pacific that were collected before,
Hardtack series
(Donaldson,
during and after the
1959b).
The presence of fallout in the ocean provides a unique oppor-
tunity to study basic biological and physical processes in the
sea.
The addition of radioisotopes to the ocean, especially in
the vicinity of the Eniwetok Test Site during a weapons testing
program, provides tracers for the study of mineral metabolism and
transport,
or of the movement of ocean currents,
tant research problems.
or other impor-
Fallout in the ocean provides a tool for
alarge-scale field experiment that cannot be duplicated elsewhere.
The assistance of Dr. Edward Held in the preparation of this
report is acknowledged with pleasure.