Disposal Of Radioactive Waste: Overseas Research

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28540, 20 March 1958, Page 16

Disposal Of Radioactive Waste: Overseas Research

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, March 19. Study of the slow, deep ocean currents to determine whether it was safe to dispose of radioactive waste at sea was a main part of oceanographic research overseas, said the superintendent of the Oceanographic Institute of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (Mr J. W. Brodie). Mr Brodie returned last week from a tour of oceanography and fishery research institutions in the United Kingdom, the Continent, and the United States. The United States could most easily dispose of its radioactive

waste on the land, Europe at sea, said Mr Brodie. Atomic energy authorities in Europe wanted to dispose of waste at the moment, but nobody wanted to start pouring it into the sea without knowing what would happen. Fundamental to the whole question was a study of deep ocean currents and their circulation. A great advance had been made in the United Kingdom with the development of an instrument to track the movement of very deep—2ooo fathoms or more—water. Allied with this was the determination of the “age’’ of water by carbon 14 dating—a method of finding out how long deep water had been shielded from contact with air. New Zealand was already doing this and getting results. The United Kingdom instrument made it possible to track currents for four to five days—almost 100 times longer than had been possible previously. Another main line of research was that into the productivity of the oceans. “The sea is at present a poorly exploited source of food,” said Mr Brodie. “There is a great deal of work being done on fundamental biology in the United Kingdom.” Mr Brodie, speaking of future New Zealand oceanographic work, said the institute would keep in close touch with the work being done on the-productivity of ocean waters. With the help of the United Kingdom, New Zealand was already putting into operation new techniques for deep current measurement. “The New Zealand dating of deep ocean waters is as advanced as anything I saw in the laboratories in the United States,” said Mr Brodie.