(b) Office of Subseabed Disposal Research
(1) There is hereby established an Office of Subseabed Disposal Research within the Office of Science of the Department of Energy. The Office shall be headed by the Director, who shall be a member of the Senior Executive Service appointed by the Director of the Office of Science, and compensated at a rate determined by applicable law.
(2) The Director of the Office of Subseabed Disposal Research shall be responsible for carrying out research, development, and demonstration activities on all aspects of subseabed disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, subject to the general supervision of the Secretary. The Director of the Office shall be directly responsible to the Director of the Office of Science, and the first such Director shall be appointed within 30 days of December 22, 1987.
(3) In carrying out his responsibilities under this chapter, the Secretary may make grants to, or enter into contracts with, the Subseabed Consortium described in subsection (d) of this section, and other persons.
(4)
(A) Within 60 days of December 22, 1987, the Secretary shall establish a university-based Subseabed Consortium involving leading oceanographic universities and institutions, national laboratories, and other organizations to investigate the technical and institutional feasibility of subseabed disposal.
(B) The Subseabed Consortium shall develop a research plan and budget to achieve the following objectives by 1995:
(i) demonstrate the capacity to identify and characterize potential subseabed disposal sites;
(ii) develop conceptual designs for a subseabed disposal system, including estimated costs and institutional requirements; and
(iii) identify and assess the potential impacts of subseabed disposal on the human and marine environment.
(C) In 1990, and again in 1995, the Subseabed Consortium shall report to Congress on the progress being made in achieving the objectives of paragraph (2).