Two recent papers have suggested that there is an apparent imbalance in the global bomb 14C budget. These results are based in part on calculations made using simple one-dimensional ocean models. We recalculate the ocean inventory of bomb 14C using a three-dimensional ocean general circulation model, and find a significantly smaller inventory after about 1980 than in previous one-dimensional model estimates. Our new estimate of the ocean inventory implies that the apparent imbalance in the global budget of bomb 14C is smaller than previously thought and is not significantly different from zero. In addition, we use our three-dimensional model to obtain whole ocean inventories of bomb 14C during the Geochemical Ocean Sections Study (GEOSECS) period; these inventories can be used as benchmarks in calibrating one-dimensional ocean models. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1995