CISS organizing study of Soviet nuclear dumping

The Center for International Security and Strategic Studies recently received a $25,000 grant from the federal Office of Naval Research to form an international study group. Japanese, American, and Russian scientists will investigate the extent of radioactive and other hazardous waste dumped in the seas of Japan and Okhotsk and the North Pacific Ocean.

Working with Mississippi State will be Vanderbilt's Center for U.S.-Japan Studies and Cooperation.

Although the Soviet Union was long suspected of dumping radioactive waste in surrounding Pacific waters, the U. S. didn't become aware of the massive scope until 1991.

"At that time, environmentalists and nuclear scientists revealed that a number of nuclear accidents had gone unreported and that toxic and nuclear waste had been disposed of in a reckless and irresponsible manner," said CISS director Janos Radvanyi. "They estimated that 19 nuclear reactors, still containing their deadly fuel, had been dumped at sea."

Waste discharged into these waters is swept toward Alaska, and scientists are concerned about the effect of radioactive pollution through polar air masses, Radvanyi said. "Consequently, the current state of these bodies of water will certainly affect the public health and safety of Russia, Japan, and the United States."

In addition to collecting and compiling data, the study group will evaluate present dump-site conditions and develop alternative disposal methods agreeable to all parties.