ML11189A041
| ML11189A041 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Indian Point  |
| Issue date: | 07/08/2011 |
| From: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Division of License Renewal |
| References | |
| Download: ML11189A041 (4) | |
Text
1 IPRenewal NPEmails From:
Stuyvenberg, Andrew Sent:
Friday, July 08, 2011 8:51 AM To:
Logan, Dennis; Balsam, Briana Cc:
IPRenewal NPEmails
Subject:
FW: Responses to your Questions about Indian Point Thermal Plume from 30 June 2011 FYI...
From: Mark Mattson [1]
Sent: Friday, July 08, 2011 6:49 AM To: Julie.Crocker@Noaa.Gov Cc: Gray, Dara F; Stuyvenberg, Andrew
Subject:
Responses to your Questions about Indian Point Thermal Plume from 30 June 2011
Julie-thankyouforyouremailon30June2011expressingNMFSquestionsregardingthethermalplumemonitoring performedintheHudsonRivernearIndianPoint(locatedontheeastshorewithinRiverMilesegment42northofthe BatteryinlowerManhattan,NY)duringthesummerof2010andpresentedintheSwansonetal.(2011)report.Dr.
CraigSwansonofASAandprincipalauthorofthe2011triaxialthermalplumemodelingstudyreportexaminedthe watertemperaturedatacollectedcontinuouslyduringthetenweekperiod(5Julythrough10September2010)from thermistorloggersinthreetosixdepthlayersfor66fixedmonitoringstationsintheHudsonRiverwithinapproximately 30km(20mi)ofIndianPoint(i.e.,theThermistorfieldprogram).Onethermistorwasset0.3m(1ft)belowthe surfaceateachmonitoringstation,anotherthermistorwasset0.3m(1ft)abovetheriverbottomateachmonitoring station,andtheremainingonetofourthermistorsweresetatequalspacingbetweenthesurfaceandthebottom relativetothedepthateachmonitoringstation.TheJulyandAugustperiodof2010wasthesecondhottest(after2005) intherecent20yearperiodofrecord(1991through2010)attheUSGSWestPointStation(RiverMilesegment52),
reflectingextremewatertemperaturesduringtheThermistorfieldprogram.
TheThermistorfieldprogramdataandthemodelingresultspresentedinSwansonetal.(2011)revealtheIndianPoint thermaldischargeisasurfaceplume.Nowateratorabove90°F(32.2°C)wasobservedatdepthsbelow5m(16ft)ina watercolumndepththatistypically18m(60ft)nearIndianPoint.Sinceshortnosesturgeonareconsideredtoinhabit primarilydemersalareasoftheHudsonRiver,particularlythedeepchannelareafromKingstontoAlbany,whichis located50milesormoreupstreamfromtheIndianPointregion(Doveletal.1988),thepresenceofathermalplumeat thesurfacenearIndianPointisnotaconcern.
Dr.SwansonalsoevaluatedtheobservednearbottomwatertemperaturesfromourextensiveHudsonRiverwater qualitymonitoringdatabasetohelpplacetheIndianPointregion(RiverMilesegments39through46)inperspective withtheknownspawningandnurseryhabitatforshortnosesturgeonupstreaminthetidalfreshwaterportionofthe estuaryfromKingstontoAlbany(RiverMilesegments86through152).Dr.Swansonreviewedthewatertemperature datafromseveralmonitoringprogramsconductedintheHudsonRiver,includingthehighresolutionThermistorfield programdescribedabove,andtwomultiyear(1997through2010)HudsonRivermonitoringprogramsknownasthe IchthyoplanktonandtheFallShoalsSurveys(i.e.,theI/FSsurveys).TheI/FSsurveyswereconductedannuallyduring midMarchthroughNovemberonalternateweekstoprovidetypically33weeksofwaterqualitymeasurements (includingtemperature,salinity,anddissolvedoxygenconcentrations)ineachyeartakenatsurface,middepth,and bottomat65fixedmonitoringstationslocatedapproximately3to5km(2to3mi)apartfromtheBatteryinlower Manhattan(RiverMilesegment0)totheTroyDamaboveAlbany(RiverMilesegment152).Dr.Swansonanalyzedthese datasetstodeterminerepresentativenearbottomwatertemperaturesintheIndianPoint(4monitoringstations)and KingstontoAlbany(17monitoringstations)reachesoftheHudsonRiver.
2 Basedonthewatertemperaturedatafromthethreemonitoringprograms,therewerenoexceedancesobservedor predictedatanytimeorlocationinthewatercolumnbelow5m(16ft)ofdepthofthecriticalthermalmaximum temperatureof33.7°C(92.7°F)orthelethaltemperatureof34.8°C(94.64°F)forshortnosesturgeonduringboththe 2010Thermistorfieldprogramandthe19972010I/FSsurveys.Furthermore,thethermalplumefromIndianPoint (RiverMilesegment42,east)doesnotinteractwithotherthermaldischargesontheHudsonRiver,includingBowline GeneratingStation(RiverMilesegment37,west),ortheCharlesPointResourceRecoveryFacility(RESCO,atRiverMile segment43,east)asnotedinSwansonetal.(2011,page78).LovettStationwaslocatedclosetoIndianPointonthe westbankoftheHudsonRiverwithinRiverMilesegment41,butisnolongerinoperationandhasbeenrazed.
Withrespectto28.0°Casidentifiedinyouremail,wenotethatthisvaluemaybeanunreasonablylowtemperature sinceshortnosesturgeonintheConnecticutRiverwereroutinelyobservedatwatertemperaturesof27°Cto30°C (Dadswelletal.1984).Moreover,temperaturesatKingstontoAlbany,wheresturgeonareroutinelypresentand resident,havebeenobservedtoexceed28°Conmultipleoccasionsduringfouryears(1999,2002,2005,and2010)of the14yearrecordanalyzed.
Nonetheless,asnotedbelow,baseduponexaminationofthe1997through2010I/FSsurveywatertemperaturedata fromthenearbottomstationsnearIndianPoint,28°Cwasexceededforjust56observationsor2.98%duringthis14 yearperiodconsistingof1,877readingsmeasuredweeklyfromMarchthroughNovember.Thesealreadylow incidencesofobservednearbottomwatertemperaturesabove28°Cwouldbeevenlowerwhenviewedinthecontext ofanentireyearinsteadoftheninemonthssampledduetothecoldwaterperiodnotsampledfromDecemberthrough February(i.e.,2.24%fortheIndianPointregion).Therefore,thecontributionofIndianPointsthermaldischargetothe HudsonRiverbottomwatertemperatureisminimal.Shortnosesturgeonareunlikelytoencounter28°CintheHudson Riverduringmostyears,andinextremeyearslike2010,bottomwatersatorabovethistemperaturemaybe encounteredintheIndianPointregion,butonlyindiscretelocationsandduringbriefintervalsthatcouldbeavoidedby seekingcoolerwaternearby.
Finally,Dr.Swansonalsoexamineddissolvedoxygenconcentrationsobservedamong14recentyears(1997through 2010)ofwaterqualitysamplestaken0.3m(1ft)abovetheriverbottomweeklyduringtheI/FSsurveysintheIndian PointregionoftheHudsonRiverfromMarchthroughNovemberofeachyear.Only17(0.91%)dissolvedoxygen concentrationsbelow5mg/lwereobservedintheIndianPointregionduringthis14yearperiodconsistingof1,877 readings,andthelowestdissolvedoxygenconcentrationof3.4mg/loccurredjustonce,whiletheremaining16values werebetween4.4mg/land4.9mg/l.AlthoughI/FSsurveywaterqualitysamplingdidnotoccurintheIndianPoint regionduringthewinterperiodfromDecemberthroughFebruaryofeachyearduetorivericeconditions,itisunlikely thatdissolvedoxygenconcentrationsbelow5mg/lwouldbeobservedthenduetothehighoxygensaturationofthe coldwaterinthewinter.Therefore,thealreadylowincidenceofdissolvedoxygenconcentrationsbelow5mg/lofjust 0.91%wouldbereducedfurtherto0.68%whenviewedinthecontextofanentireyearinsteadoftheninemonths sampled,whichshouldalleviateanyconcernaboutoxygenstressduetoelevatedtemperaturesifshortnosesturgeon weretobefoundintheIndianPointregionoftheHudsonRiver.ItshouldbenotedthatHudsonRiverregionsouthof theIndianPointregionhad501dissolvedoxygenconcentrationsbelow5mg/l(6.33%of7,918totalobservations)inthe nearbottomwaters,seventimesmorefrequentlythantheIndianPointregion.
Basedonthiswatertemperatureanddissolvedoxygeninformation,webelievewehaveresolvedallofyour30June questions,establishingnocrediblebasisforthermalordissolvedoxygenimpactstoshortnosesturgeonfromIndian Pointspast,presentorfutureoperationsafterlicenserenewal.Pleaseletusknowiftheinformationprovidedhas sufficientlyansweredyourquestions,orifyouhaveanyremainingquestionsthatwemayhelpanswerbyexaminingour extensivedatabase.Sincewearepracticallyneighbors,Dr.SwansonandIwouldalsobehappytoparticipateinany additionaltelephonecalls,ormeetwithyouatyourofficeinGloucester,ifacallormeetingwouldhelpfacilitateyour useofthesedatatopreparethebiologicalopinion.
Takecareandhaveagreatweekend.Mark
3
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MarkT.Mattson,Ph.D.,VicePresident NormandeauAssociates,Inc.
30InternationalDrive,Suite6,PortsmouthNH03801 DirectPhone:603.319.5307 Cell:603.345.0071
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Subject:
FW: Responses to your Questions about Indian Point Thermal Plume from 30 June 2011 Sent Date:
7/8/2011 8:50:38 AM Received Date:
7/8/2011 8:50:46 AM From:
Stuyvenberg, Andrew Created By:
Andrew.Stuyvenberg@nrc.gov Recipients:
"IPRenewal NPEmails" <IPRenewal.NPEmails@nrc.gov>
Tracking Status: None "Logan, Dennis" <Dennis.Logan@nrc.gov>
Tracking Status: None "Balsam, Briana" <Briana.Balsam@nrc.gov>
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