Inventory of Radioactive Material Resulting from Historical Dumping, Accidents and Losses at Sea

Book excerpt: In 1989 the Contracting Parties to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (the London Convention 1972) requested that the IAEA undertake the preparation of a global inventory of radioactive materials entering the marine environment from all origins. The IAEA subsequently established a global inventory which included information officially reported in or obtained from open literature and confirmed by the countries involved, on (i) the dumping at sea of radioactive waste; and (ii) marine accidents and losses involving radioactive materials. The inventory is intended as a centralized information base against which the impact of specific sources of radioactive material entering the marine environment can be assessed and compared. In 2006 the IAEA received the request to update those inventories. The present publication includes additional information provided recently by some IAEA Member States and contracting parties to the London Convention 1972 and Protocol 1996 within a process of updating the inventory which concluded in 2014, together with the information contained in previous IAEA publications. A CD ROM provides tables, maps and a database with detailed information.