1. World problems
  2. Marine dumping of nuclear waste

Marine dumping of nuclear waste

  • Nuclear wastes dumped in oceans

Incidence

Sea dumping of highly radioactive materials has been banned worldwide since the beginning of the 1960s and the ban was extended in 1983 to include low-level radioactive wastes. In theory, the oceans can eventually dilute nearly any radioactive waste to the point of harmlessness. But local releases of high concentrations can be dangerous if picked up by marine life and carried into the food chain.

Counter-claim

An international group of 116 scientists and radiation experts concluded in 1993 that nuclear wastes dumped in oceans over the decades apparently pose no global danger. Any potential problem would be a local one and would pose no threat on a global scale. However, local threats from the Russian wastes, which are mainly in the Kara and Barents seas, inside the Arctic Circle, are entirely theoretical.

Broader

Aggravates

Related

Strategy

Dumping wastes
Presentable

Value

Wastage
Yet to rate
Dumping
Yet to rate

SDG

Sustainable Development Goal #7: Affordable and Clean EnergySustainable Development Goal #12: Responsible Consumption and ProductionSustainable Development Goal #14: Life Below Water

Metadata

Database
World problems
Type
(E) Emanations of other problems
Biological classification
N/A
Subject
  • Oceanography » Marine
  • Oceanography » Oceanography
  • Societal problems » Waste
  • Content quality
    Unpresentable
     Unpresentable
    Language
    English
    1A4N
    J4019
    DOCID
    12040190
    D7NID
    178978
    Last update
    Oct 4, 2020