Tsunami Hazard Assessment at Nuclear Power Plant Sites in the United States of America

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Tsunami Hazard Assessment at Nuclear Power Plant Sites in the United States of America NUREG/CR-6966 #U.S.NRC PNNL-1 7397 United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission ProtectingPeople and the Environment Tsunami Hazard Assessment at Nuclear Power Plant Sites in the United States of America Final Report Office of New Reactors AVAILABILITY OF REFERENCE MATERIALS IN NRC PUBLICATIONS NRC Reference Material Non-NRC Reference Material As of November 1999, you may electronically access Documents available from public and special technical NUREG-series publications and other NRC records at libraries include all open literature items, such as NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room at books, journal articles, and transactions, Federal htlo:/vwvw.nrc.civ!readinQ-rm.htnl. Publicly released Register notices, Federal and State legislation, and records include, to name a few, NUREG-series congressional reports. 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NUREG/CR-6966 7U.S.NRC PNNL-17397 United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission ProtectingPeople and the Environment Tsunami Hazard Assessment at Nuclear Power Plant Sites in the United States of America Final Report Manuscript Completed: March 2009 Date Published: March 2009 Prepared by R. Prasad Pacific Northwest National Laboratory P.O. Box 999 Richland, WA 99352 E. Cunningham, NRC Project Manager G. Bagchi, NRC Technical Monitor NRC Job Code J3301 Office of New Reactors ABSTRACT We describe the tsunami phenomenon with the of a plant's structures, systems, and components. focus on its relevance for hazard assessment at Structures, systems, and components important to nuclear power plant sites. Chapter 1 includes an the safety of a plant should be adequately designed overview of tsunamis and mechanisms that gener- and, if required, protected from these hazards. ate tsunamis. Three tsunamigenic Chapter 4 describes data required for a detailed mechanisms-earthquakes, landslides, and tsunami-hazard assessment and sources of these volcanoes-are considered relevant for hazard data. We recommend using existing resources and assessment at nuclear power plant sites. We previously completed tsunami-hazard assessments, summarize historical tsunami occurrences, if available and appropriate. Detailed tsunami- including descriptions of source mechanisms and hazard assessment at a nuclear power plant site damages caused by these events. Historical should be based on the probable maximum landslides and potential landslide areas in earth's tsunami. Chapter 5 defines the probable oceans are described. We describe the maximum tsunami, its determination at a site, and hierarchical-review approach to tsunami-hazard subsequent hazard assessment. We point out that assessment at nuclear power plant sites in a tsunamigenic source that produces probable Chapter 2. The hierarchical-review approach maximum tsunami hazards at a site may not be consists of a series of stepwise, progressively determined a priori. It may be necessary to more-refined analyses to evaluate the hazard evaluate several candidate sources and the resulting from a phenomena at a nuclear power tsunamis generated from them under the most plant site. We recommend that the hierarchical- favorable tsunamigenic source and ambient review approach employ a screening analysis to conditions. The set of hazards obtained from all determine if a site is subject to tsunami hazard such scenario tsunamis should be considered to based on the presence of a tsunamigenic source determine design bases of the plant structures, and the location and elevation of the site. The systems, and components. Chapter 6 describes screening analysis is expected to ensure that international practices by Japan and the analysis and review resources are not wasted at International Atomic Energy Agency, which are sites with little potential of exposure to tsunamis. reviewed for completeness. The appendix Chapter 3 describes the effects tsunami waves may provides a stepwise guide to site-independent have at a nuclear power plant site. These effects. analyses for tsunami-hazard assessment. result in hazards that may directly affect the safety Paperwork Reduction Act Statement This NUREG does not contain information collection requirements and, therefore, is not subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Public Protection Notification The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a request for information or an information collection requirement unless the requesting document displays a currently valid OMB control number. iii FOREWORD The Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004 led the NRC to take the initiative to examine its criteria for nuclear plant siting evaluation against tsunami hazards. Site evaluation against tsunami hazards, as incorporated into the Standard Review Pan, was determined to be comprehensive; however, it needed to be updated to incorporate current understanding of tsunami sources, modeling near shore and on-shore wave surge, draw-down, erosion and other associated effects. In 2005, the National Tsunami Hazard Reduction Program was initiated by the President, and the current study was conducted by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in collaboration with the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to ensure that NRC's guidance on site evaluation against tsunami hazards are consistent with the National Program. The focus of this study has been to examine tsunami hazards at nuclear power plant sites, to review offshore and onshore modeling of tsunami waves, to describe the effects of tsunami waves on nuclear power plant structures, systems, and components, to develop potential approaches for screening sites for tsunami effects, to identify the repository of historic tsunami data, and to examine the ways to approach site safety assessment for tsunami for an NRC reviewer. NRC's Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) has initiated a comprehensive research program on source characterization, modeling, tsunami effects and probabilistic hazard framework, as appropriate. The RES program is intended to fill in the information gaps that exist on tsunami sources for the Atlantic
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