News In Brief

Navy concels plan to scrap nuclearsub reactors at sea

The Navy, bowing to congressional and environmentalist opposition, said Monday it has abandoned plans to dispose of radioactive submarine nuclear reactors at sea and will bury them on federally owned land instead.

In a final environmental-impact statement, the Navy said it prefers to bury the defueled reactors on sites in South Carolina or Washington State instead of in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans within 200 miles of the US coast.

The Navy now has 120 operational submarines, about 100 of which would be ready for disposal in 30 years, the Navy said. Seven decommissioned subs are now afloat in ''protective storage,'' it said.