A Longitudinal Study of Fluctuating Radiation Levels in Prince William Sound, Alaska: A Conclusion to a Four Year Study

Overview

Is it radioactive? That's what everyone asks when I tell them that I test items from Prince William Sound (PWS) beaches with my family. I am concerned with what is, and what will be, washed up on the beaches of Alaska. I've been concerned ever since the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. When it occurred, it damaged the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear reactor in Japan. It has been leaking radioactive material ever since the accident, introducing radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean and contaminating the environment. I believe that when the reactor was damaged that it contaminated tsunami items, and they are now washing onto our coasts. I've been testing beaches across PWS for gamma radiation, which could only come from a few sources, and the reactor in Japan is a suspect. Procedures for this experiment: *Obtain testing equipment *Arrive at the test site(s) *Test area- follow experimental procedure *Repeat testing procedures at every site *Record data The purpose of my experiment is to test if items washing up on Alaskan beaches such as natural items (trees, logs, seaweed, etc.), flotsam (buoys, styrofoam, etc.) and marine mammals have elevated radiation levels. I also tested seafood is Seward this past summer of 2016, and found raised radiation levels in locally caught rockfish, halibut and salmon.

Competition history

• ISEF 2017 Earth and Environmental Sciences · Entry EAEV040

Resources

• ISEF abstract page ↗

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