Global (London Convention/Protocol, IMO)

The regulatory action that ended radioactive-waste sea dumping. Under the London Convention framework, parties adopted a voluntary moratorium on radioactive-waste dumping in 1983, which was converted into a permanent, legally binding ban in 1993. This closed the practice that had put 200,000+ drums on the NE Atlantic floor and comparable inventories elsewhere: from that point the legacy became fixed rather than growing. The later London Protocol reinforced it by flipping to a 'reverse list' that prohibits dumping of everything not explicitly permitted. Its ongoing value depends on parties resisting periodic pressure to reopen deep-sea disposal.