Dr. James Burnett-Herkes, permanent secretary at the Environment Ministry and a trustee of the station, confirmed Government gave approval to the dumping.

And there is no legal problem to stop it continuing, he added.

He said he was not aware of an international ban on dumping radioactive waste at sea, which started last month.

Government would have to look very carefully at it before agreeing to comply, he said.

Yesterday The Royal Gazette revealed details of how Bio Station scientists dumped low-level radioactive waste into deep water in sealed oil drums.

They say dumping stopped more than a year ago and radiation levels were far too low to harm humans or sea life.

But a safety officer at a respected US laboratory says such dumping is unacceptable and would break regulations in the US, where the Bio Station is incorporated.

Dr. Burnett-Herkes said the station started dumping long before there was a need to get legal permission.

The practice could have started more than 15 years ago, he said.

Government had been consulted and had approved the dumping from the start.

The station had showed "a huge amount of responsibility'' in the methods it used.

A voluntary international agreement not to dump low-level radioactive waste at sea had been due to come into effect in Bermuda in 1989, he said.

But there had been "irregularities in the process'' which meant it did not come into effect until 1992.

Under the voluntary agreement, special permits had to be sought for such dumping.

The station's final dumping trip was in November, 1992 -- after this new requirement came into effect.

However, said Dr. Burnett-Herkes, "given the way the dumping went on, and given the extremely low level of risk, if any, I have no doubt that they would have been successful in getting a permit to carry out dumping''.

The voluntary agreement, allowing for permits, was still in effect, he said.

He had not been aware that a permanent ban on low-level dumping had come into force last month, covering 71 countries including Britain.

"We have not been officially notified that that has happened,'' he told The Royal Gazette .

"Now you have brought it to our attention we will be following it up with the usual channels, with Her Majesty's government.'' He said he would be "very surprised'' if Bermuda did not go along with the agreement.

But he stressed countries could choose whether to comply with certain parts of it.

Bermuda did not have the space for stockpiling or land dumping that other countries had.

"We would have to make sure we don't put ourselves in a box by simply going along with the crowd -- particularly for low-level waste that would have zero impact on the environment.'' Top Bio Station scientists issued a joint statement yesterday, pointing out that director Dr. Tony Knap described the institution's dumping practices in the book "Bermuda's Delicate Balance'' in 1981.

They added: "The Government does not yet have a completed policy or accepted mechanism for getting rid of hazardous waste, so we're in the same uncertain position as every other industry in Bermuda that deals with solvents.

"When the Bermuda Government enunciates a policy on this, we will comply with it to the letter, as we always have.''