ML19220B187
| ML19220B187 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 06/30/1969 |
| From: | INTERIOR, DEPT. OF, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY |
| To: | Price H US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC) |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7904250499 | |
| Download: ML19220B187 (4) | |
Text
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IN REPLY REP 'O.
L,/'
fI i
UNITED STATES
(,
',5 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR gg',
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WA f ri1NGToN 25. D. C.
Mr. Harold Price Director of Regulation U.S. Atcinic Energy Cassission 7920 Norfolk Avenue Bethesda, Maryland 20545
Dear Mr. P:
1ce:
Transmitted herewith in response to a request by Mr. Roger S. Boyd, is a review of the hydrologic and geologic aspects of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station Unit 2 - AEC Docket No. 50-320 proposed by Metropolitan Edison Company and Jersey Central Power & Light Company.
The review was prepared by P. J. Carpenter and H. H. Waldron and has been discussed with members of your staff. We have no objections to your mak-ing this review a part of the public record.
Sincerely yours.
- MM Director g
Enclosure :
790425949g t g.993
Metropolitaa Edicen Caipany Jersey Central Peuer & Light Ccupany Tnree Mile Island Nuc ear Statica Unit 2 Docket ;;o. 50-320 Hvd r ol o r v Tne planned lccation for Three Mile Island huclear Statica Uni: 1 is on Three Mile Island whieb is near the east shore of the Susquehanna River, Dauphin Ccunty, Fennsylve,ia, l's miles upstream of York Haven cc:3, 25 milcs scu h of Midcle:m,n, 10 =iles scutheast of Harricburg, 11 miles dcunstream cf the U.S. Ceclogical Survey Harrisburg stream-gaging statica, and at mile 53.
The sta:io. will empicy a pressurized water reactor rated at an initial pcwer level of 24f 2 megawatts thermal cr-S;5 me;auctt s electrical. ':2ke up water for two cooli,3 tcwors will be taken frca the Susquehanna River. Some wa.e r will be returned to the Susquehanna River as a dilutant for the operational releases of liquid radioactive wastes.
Eased on a revieu of the applicant's "Fre liminary Sa fety Analysis Report" and an independent check of the available da:a and literature, it can be concluded that cc=:ents concerning the dilution characteristics of the Susquehanna River and the availability of ecoling water as pre-sented in the a:: ached hydrologic review for Unit 1 prepared by E. L.
Meyer on January 10, 1953, are equally applicable for Unit 2.
Except as t.c:ed below, the hydrologic analysis of the site with respect to the operaticnal or accidental release of radienuclices to the envircament as presented by the applicant appears to be adequate.
The major hydrologic concern a: this site is the pctential ficod hacard. The selected cesiga ficed for Uni: 1 (1,100,000 cubic feet per second cis) was, as noted in the attached hydrologic review, a prelim-inary calculatica of the probable maximum ficed then in use by cne Bal incre District, U.S. Corps of Engineers.
2ased on a later calcu-laticn by the Ealti= ore District, the provtsicnal figure for the un-regulated probable maximum fleed is new approxinately 1,750.000 cfs at Harrisburg. Due to regula:ica afforc?d by the existing er planned upstream dans which are designed for the probable maximum :loed, the final discharge figure for :he probable arimum ficed at Harrisburg, scheduled to be published in mid-1970, is encimated to be 1,600,000 cfs. The permanent ficod protectica level for Unit 2 should be based en the stage compu:ed for the probable maxint flood discharge to be published and shculd be adjusted to reflect the breaching of any ex-isting or planned upstream dans not designed 5:r the probable maximum floed plus alleuance for wave run-up.
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m L'he n ccas ideri..
-his c ite, it should be rement.ed that the probable maximum flocJ discharga is the result of a theoretical calcu-latica dependent directly upcn mc teocologic and hydrologic data, and as more data become available, the resulting calculated flecd cischarge may be chan;ed. Eecause th2se calculations strive to define an upper limit shich remains unkncun, any revisiens cc enly be upward.
In addition, this site, located en an tsland immediately devastream anc cn the outsice of a 90-degree rive-bend, may oc subjected to elevated river velocities and eay be in the direct path of ficating debris.
During ficods, access structur2s to the plant area will also be threatened. Ine finished plant grade is aven as 300.0 feet above tc2n s
sea level (msl), and the stage calculated pas the site for 1,100,0C0 cis varies frem elevation 303.0 te 3C4.0 fee: 2beve ms1.
Stages for the probable ma:~.inum ficed to be published can be expected to.ccasider-ably exceed those fer 1,10],000 cfs and will probabl: exceed the ele-vation given fer the finishc pian: grade.
Indundation of tne site w i_1_1 b e precluded enl., b_v assumin-the adecuacy and inte rity of the 2
o ficcd ccatrol cikes surrounding it.
E:cause tne si:e is particularly vulnerable to fleeding, it ir recer:2ndcu chat it be accepted caly if it can be sheen tna temporary fic:
prctecticn can be p rovided for floods which might excece the probable ma.ximum fleed to be published, and if at some later date, should :he probable maximum flood ccapu-taticas be revised upaard, the pe manen: flocd protectica icvel can
-correspendingly be raised.
Although of relatively mine r concern at this site, it should be mentioned that any airberne ractenuclides deposited directly en the outcrop areas of the mare perme able, stratified beds of sandstone er siltstone which are part of :Pa Gettycburg Shale, cculd be expected to reach the artesian aquifer in this formatica in a shcr: pe riod of time.
The relatively pere.eable, 10 to 30 feet thick alluvium overlying the Gettysburg *h;1e is a major scurce of r? charge to the artesian acutfert which crop cut beneath it.
Airborne radienuclides deposi:ed en the alluvium could be expected to be sorbed en the soil particles or permeate, in a matter of days, to the water table and either to be moved to the susquehanna River under the influence cf the hydraulic gradient cr enter the artesian aquifers.
G_e.o l c e v The analysis of the geology of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Sta:ica Unit 2, as presented in AEC Occket No. 50-320 and supple =ents, was reviewed and compared with the available literature and with -ba
- c2'
^# Three. Mile Island Nuclear Stat'_cn Unit 1 (AEC Dccket No. 50-239 and supplements).
The geologic concitions for Uni; 2 appear to be essentially identical with them given in the analysis for Uni: 1.
9 W t03
f The site is 1
.tud in tne Gettysbur-Easin s.
icn of the Pied = cat o
Physiograp'te prevince. At the site a p p r o:u ma t e l _. :0 reet of alluvial a
sediments overlie Uppar Trias;ic Ce:ryduurg Scale.
The Gettysburg Shale censists of s:ceply-dipping, in:crheducu fine-to e.aum grained sandstone, shalr
- siltstone, and shaly claystu.a.
Cac to three fee t of weathered rock occurs irrediatel.v celcw :ne alluvium bedrock contact.
Scring logs, as casun in the F for cc:S Uni: 1 and Unit 2, indicate that icundatica ccncittens scend bedrock uncerlying the site should be adecua:e for the prepcsed :ecility.
During ccnstructicn, hcw-ever, sc e atacr.,clificaricas ci fcundatica design may be required due to variaticas i., the thickness cf the veathered ccne ca the Cettysburg Shale. The relaticaship cet"cen r.ck structures and pctential shear strengths of the rock also -ay necessitate seme mcdifications of derign during construction in crdet to ensure the integrity of scme of the more heavily lecded ic;ndations. Any such modifications, hcwever, shculd be within :he limits of standard enginearing desi;n and practice.
There are no identifiable active faults cr other recent gecicgic structures that could be expec:cd :: local. ice earthquakas in the i=cediate vicinity of :he site.
Althcugh 3 pcstulated faults, the projected traces of which would pass through or nearby the site, are shown en a geologic map of the area by S:cse and Jonas (1933), the available local and regional geologic and geophysical estdence does not apptor to warrant the projectica of any of these poctulated faults to the ir:cdiate vicinity of tne site, The border fault of the Pennsylvania Triassic Sasin, hcuever, lies 4-'roxiaatel,v 5 to 6 ailes north of the site; elsewhere in the easte aited States :any earth-quake epicenters appear to be ccncentrated in the it=ediate vicinity of ccaparable geologic structures.
Re ference Stose, G. '4. and Jcnas, A.
I., 1933, Geology and mineral rescurces of :ne Middle:cun quadrangle, P2.
U.S. Ge ol. Survey Zull. S ' O.
3 74 004
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