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U.S. Department of Energy
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Environmental sampling at Amchitka and Adak Islands, Alaska - 15317

Conference ·
OSTI ID:22822830
 [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. US DOE Office of Legacy Management, Grand Junction, CO (United States)
  2. US DOE Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago, IL (United States)
  3. Stoller Newport News Nuclear Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc., Grand Junction, CO (United States)
Amchitka Island is near the western end of the Aleutian Islands, approximately 2157 km (1340 miles) west-southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. The US government conducted three underground nuclear tests on Amchitka between 1965 and 1971 and has conducted biological monitoring on the island since before 1965; the most recent monitoring occurred in the summer of 2011. A working group of stakeholders collected samples of marine biota, sediment, and sea water for analysis of test-related radionuclides to determine if subsistence- and commercial-catch seafood in the ocean near Amchitka and Adak Island (a reference area) is safe to eat. Dietary intake information for the risk estimates used a range of diets based on published surveys of four Aleut villages and a composite diet. The risk estimates indicated that seafood harvested at Amchitka and Adak is considered safe for consumption at the intake levels for each of five diets evaluated. Although increased cesium concentrations (Cs-134) possibly related to the Fukushima Dai-ichi event were detected in certain samples; the increased levels have not resulted in unacceptable risk from the ingestion of these seafoods. (authors)
Research Organization:
WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 27646, 85285-7646 Tempe, AZ (United States)
OSTI ID:
22822830
Report Number(s):
INIS-US--19-WM-15317
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English