ML19220C837

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Evaluation of Environ Data Re Selected Nuclear Power Plant Sites, TMI Nuclear Station Site
ML19220C837
Person / Time
Site: Crane Constellation icon.png
Issue date: 08/31/1976
From: Murarka I, Pentecost E
ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY
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ML19220C836 List:
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ANL-EIS-4, NUDOCS 7905150618
Download: ML19220C837 (12)
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O AN E'/ALUATION OF ENVIRONIT::TAL DATA RELATING TO SELECTED liUCLEAR PCilER PLi:;T SITES Et T112 TliREE ::ILE ySLA'iD '.UCLEAR STl.!IO: SITE by Edwin D. Pentecost Ishtar P. Murarka b 6 'f August 1976 .o i 1 Division of Environmental !=p, "ic; Argonne National Laboratory g Argonne, Illinois 60439 '+ . i. 117 030 i J s

1 O i. I t Preface l The Office of Regulatory Research, U. S. "uclear Regulatory Commission, the Argonne National Laborataiy f or the evaluation is supporting a program at i of the data collected by field studies at a number of operating nuc] ear power i plants. The objective is to analyze data from both a disciplinary and a i statistical standpoint. Each of the plants chosen is required, by the terms of the licenses granted, to conduct certain monitoring programs. Some plants their cwn interestr. Do such pro-are running additional programs to serve the interests of ecologists concerned with the protection of biota? grams meet What decisions are made on What is the precision and accuracy of the results? Answers to such the basis of the field data and how valid are such decisions? I questions would be of great value in establishing the ecst cost-effective I programs f or future plants and redesigning the programs f or enisting plants. i, the staff Through the ccoperation of the companies operating the plants, As the results are { is obtaining the data frca a number of installations. such as this to cor. piled the Laboratory plans to prepare an informal report i present the analysis perta.ining to each plant chosen. A summary and inter-comparisons of data, together with the Laboratory's reconcendations, will then { be presented in one or more reports to the NRC. 1 This, the fourth of the informal reports, pertains to the Three "ile i l Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1. Similar reports pertaining to the sites of the " ion, Prairie Island, and Nine '!ile Point plants are envisaged. l 4 Earlier reports issued in this series are: ANL/ELS-1 The Keuaunee Nuclear Power Plant Site. AHL/EIC-2 The Quad-cities nuclear Power Station. A::L/ElS-3 The Duane A:nald Enerpy Conter Site. y, j / Jl 111

L 9 'h 21 6 l t-i CGNTENTS Pace Preface I.is t of Figurcs........................ iii y TIIC PL.U'T. 1 Location 1 Interaction with the Environment 2 Operating History. .t 2 "t Tc.R P. E.a" T'a 'a'r L a\\ c " r. e c's.."<'t aa '} ciant-Specific Potential Ecological Impact ji Predicted Impacts 2

l Observed Impacts 2

s.l 6 I ', ADEQUACIES A::D DEFICIE::CIES OF TIIE 1:CNITCP.I::G PROG:LU! I!! o n=nec-,L e ,,w.c-- Uwi6wA u .-.nvia bird ! II O cU b { Effcets of Cooling Tcuer Salt Drift on Vegetation 7 e d CRRIQUE, CCNCLUSICNS A::D RECC!21E:!DATIC::S. 7 at a m nefere=ces a ~ q I I E E 4 1 I 5 >i 1 1 1 4 ii/ 0,3,c iv ' m :m..... s..,,,

l I 1 FIC'J:tES Figure No. j 1 Three Mile Island Site 3 View of Station During Conutructie. a 3 Daily Power Cencration 5 = f I l. ,f t l 6 i ) i t I i f i l 6 e l 117 r0;7.;: 7 V i I

(I) AN EVALUATICN OF E:P/IRC:i'! ENTAL D/sTA dELATI::C TO SELECTED i:UCLEAR PC'.lER PLA::T SITES THREE MILE ISLASD SITE .I Abstract Environ =antal monitoring data Ecr the years 1973 and 197' ~ partaining to the Thraa Mile :Sland Nucicar Station Unit ', which began operation in early 1374, vere analycad by th ? =csc craatical qualitativu and quanticative methcds. Terrcstrial biotic resourcas were considercd for this plant. T.'io c!!ects of tha 0 cration of I.'ni t 1 on the local terrestrial organism: were Ecund cc bc unda-tectable. Although the pl:nt has not =peratad long ancugh to a reveal long-term delatoricus e!!ccts, the present indications do not lead to a ccncstnad prcdiction that any arc daveicping. i The data acquired, =cchod of analysis, and results obtained are prcsonted in detail alc:q wi:h rccc=mandations for improving mJnitoring techniques. The primary purpose of biological monitoring of nuclear rower plants is to detect any significant impacts of plant operation on the local ecology, or on any of its componer t parts, e.g., birds, rcmmals, vegetation, reptiles. A signifi detrimental impact is one that adversely changes the populations u.. i in such a way that the lost or impaired inda'idual organisms are either not replaced or replacement is delayed too 1cag (a year or two) and the balance of i the ecosystem is upset. l Certain non-radiological data f rom the Three Mile Island Nuclear Stat.on i I were evaluated to determine the effectiveness of the survaillance requirencata set forth in the license. Incidental to this undertaking is the development l of an understanding of the nature and extent of environmental changes occurring In locales disturbed by the effluents from the plant. \\ ~ t For this report, the matters considered are those relating to effects of cooling tower drift on local crops and natural vegetation, and bird kills from collisions with cooling towers during spring and fall migrations. The results of this evaluation are presented in this report. TFE PIJd'T LCCATION The Three Mile Island Nuclear Station occupies part of an 314-acre site consisting of Three Mile Island and adjncent islandsintheSjspu[ha(p.,hiver, j

i 2 approximately ten miles southeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (Fig. 1). The station consists of tuo pressuriced water reactors Three Mile Island is about 11,000 feet long and 1700 feet wide. g ~ Between 1957 and the start of construction (1963), 270 acres on the island were leased for the growing of carn and tomatoes. The land is flat and the sandy-nilt soil is rich. Recreation cabins, a picnic area and boat docP facilitics occupied part of the island. About 200 acres on the periphery and southeastern portion of the island were wooded. I INTERACTICJ WITH THE ENVIRO 2 CST t i The most conspicuous structures on the site are the four 370-foot-high, hyperbolic, natural-draft cooling teuers, as shown in Figure 2. The two finished towers for Unit 1 are to the left in the figure. 1 i i The cooling towers are used to dissipate the heat rejected from the plant j steam cycle. Virtually all the heat is dissipated to the atmorphere t h ro ur,n j .hese towers. Makeup for cooling tower evaporation, drift, and blowdown is j obtained frem the secondary services cater pumping syuten. The maximum naket p flow is about 27,0C0 gpa (gallons per minute), uhich includes the 20,000 gpn bicwdown from the cooling teuer basins. OPERATlUC HISTCRY [ The pressuticed water reactor for Three Mile Island Unit 1 produces a nat I j output of 792 !!We. On April 19. 1974, a fu11-eerm operating license was I issued for Unit 1. Initial criticality was achir.cd on June 5, 1974, and commercial operation began on September 2, 1974. Since then, daily power l generation levels have been reported by the utility to N2C. We obtained these { data fron the SRC "Cray Book" and made the plot of pcuer generation en a daily basis for 1974-1975 (Fig. 3). From this plot it is evident that daily power generation fibetuates over the full range from no output to the maximum level i of 792 MWe. Such an operational characteristic influences the environmental measurements and the biota, water chemistry, and thermal plume in of the plant. the vicinity j ,i t TERRESTRIAL ASSESSMENT I 1 i s 1 PU.UT-SPECIFIC PCTENTIAL ECOLOGICAL D! PACT 1, I In Section V of the Final Environmental Statement (FES)1 for the station l and in.Section 4.1.2 of the Environmental Technical Specifications, two poten-j tial sources of i= pact on terrestrial ecosystems have been identified: (1) the i impacts of cooling tower drif t on local crops and natural vegetatica, (2) bird kills from collisions with the four 370-foot-high natural-draft cooling tcwers during spring and fall migrations. 4 i PREDICTED IMPACIT 1 l ? i The use o1 cd navigation lights on the cooling towers may confuse J migrating birds, causing them to collide with the toucts. Salt driJef rpitfe f f cooling towers, although not expected to adversely impact local adr LCbitLN. I f j 1 1 i j I I s I + =

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90 crops or natural vegetation, was given an extensive treatment in the TES.I The proposed converufen of a portian of the site i no a recreation area coula have a greater impact the local terrestrial ecosystens than would consu ac-en tion or operation of the station. The proposed recreational facilities include 80 boat slips and docka, parking for 50 cars and boat trailers or 275 cars, 125 picnic

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comfort stations, two group picnic areas, and two picnic shelters with ecmfort stations. The construction of parking areas and picnic shelrcrs precludes l of these areas for wildlife hahitat. use The the clearing of small trees and shrubby vegetatien. creation of picnic areas will require Subsequent uinte:- nce of picnic areas will hinder or halt secondary ecological succession in thene The creatica of picnic areas will increase human use of many par d ons areas. of the island now consisting mainly of wildlife habitat. This action vill likely reduc 2 bird nesting habitat and bird species diversity and alter the normal movement patterns of squirrels and chipmunks on a local levcl. The construction of marina launching ramps.till reduce the available habitat for amphibians and turtles using the western shore of the island. OESERVED IM2 ACTS i, Prcoperational and operational uata concerning the vegetstion ccmmunities in the vicinity of Three Mile Island :iuclear Staticn were compared and reported by the applicant in the 1974 Semiannual Environmental Monitor ag Report The data collected included subjective observations for plant pathology resultin; { from salt deposition, measureccats of numbers of stems per plot in 1973 "'rsus ) 1974, and ground cover comparisons between yours for herbaceoun vegetation. [ This comparison revealed no detectable on the surrounding vegetation. iupacts of the cooling tower salt drift Eird kills from collisiens with the cooling towers were recorded frcn June 5-June 30 and from September 1-November 30, 1974 Seven birdu were j killed (all during October) f rca collisions with the towers. All but one of } the birds were killed when wind speeds exceeded 10 mph. In addition, during i June ten dead birds (eight grackles, two rock doves) were removed from the j trash screens for the touers. The utility postulatcJ that since these species j frequently observed perched on the cooling tower fill, were they may have 3 nested or roosted within the towers prior to the June 5 startup of Unit 1. ..j ADEQUACIES AND DEFICIENCIES OF THE MC:i1TCRING PROGRAM q IN DETECTING IMPACTS k g BIRD KILLS 1 Since monitoring for mortality and injury to birds colliding with the 2 i cooling towers was conducted from June 5-June 30 and September 1-November 30, i 1974, there was no opportunity to observe impacts to the avifauna during spring migration. Migration of songbirds occurs from mid-April through :tay in g this region of the country. Large migratory flocks are more common in spring V than in fall, thus increasing the potential for tower collisions. ] conclusion that can be drawn from the data available is that catastrophic bird The on1) 5 kills did not I occur during one f all af gratory period. Caution should be used not to interpret these data as indicating that bird mortality at na tural-dra f t Q 117 03, 1 =,,...- ma r --t =,

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7 cooling touers seldom occurs during fal] migration. Additional yeara of data at Three !!ile Island and other nuclear pouer plants are needed to substantitLa such a conclusion. Overcast, low ceillng cot.dit ions in the vicinity of hiah towers (300 to 1500 feet) or buildings are conducive to mi;;tatory hird kills. A monitoring program during only one season nay yield erroneous or niuleadins data, particularly if netcorological conditions for that year were not repre-sentative for the atoa. Bird migration peaks may not have been coincident with nights of low ceiling and dense cloud cover. EFFECTS OF CCOLING TC;;EP. SALT DRlrT CN VECETATICN No short-term (within one grouing season) impacts of salt drift on the natural vegetation and agricultural crops were observed. Although visua] observationa of agricultural crops and natural veg=tation were made com June through Oc tcber 19 74, the reports did not indicate the cri;eria used for assessing salt damage. As stated in the Environmental Technical Specifica-tions, chemical analyses of plant foliar tissue would be nade if visual obscr-vations indicated salt d.ift damage. A nonitoring prograr to subjectively evaluatn vegetative cordition lacks the sensitivit, needec to detect such changes as foliar absorption of metals or other chemicals present in the cooling towar drift. These chemicals may have long-ranae ef fects, particu-larly if accumulating in perennia] plant species. A comparison of species co" position, density and basal area of trees befora plant operatien anc during tbc first grouing season after the commencement of p] ant operation also failed j t > shou any ef fects of salt drif t on the loca] vegetation. This means of 2ssessing the effects of salt drift cannot possibly detect chemic'l changes in the vegecaticn, All that can be concluded usiag these techniques is that a catastrophic change in vegetative composition did not occur from cooling tower drift. Possibly this type of monitoring, in conjunction with studies on appropriate control areas, would be adequate to give an indication of vegeta-tive changes if 20 to 30 consecutive years of data were collected. Changes in the vegetative composition of abandoned fields in the vicinity of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station were not different frca changes expected due to normal ecological succession. Without control sampling in an i area distant from the cooling tcwerc, it is not possible to distinguish between vegetative changes resulting from succession and those caused by salt drift. Multiple controls (iegetative community types of the same general floral composition for each community type in the areas of potential impact) should .I be established in areas near the nuclear generating station. l I i l CRITIQUE, CONCL"SICNS AND RECOD1ENDATIONS A basic problem in detecting any impacts of plant operation on terres-trial biota is cetermination of the extent to which any observed cb ~

are due to natural annual and seasonal variation in population levelr -

.e j species being monitored. In general, many terrestrial animals are highly variable in population density from one year to the next. Unfortunately, s ta t e -o f-the-a rt sampling techniques often reflect variations in data which are artifacts of tite techniques, further complicating t:.e probica of accounting for the ranges in annu 1 variation. As a result, many years of data are needed to detect trends in the data with an acceptabic degree of reliability, In the case of Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, the monitoring techniques jj-p4 i l V9

8 ] employed lacked the censitivity needed to detect any effect of plant operation l. on the terrc t-ial biota. The monitorinr, pro;; ram failed to include all factorn l needed for impact evaluation. I The following recommenda ions are aimed at improving and providing an { acceptable level of sen itivity or resolution to the Three Mile Island r.cni-I toring program: 6 j 1. A soil monitoring program should be establislIed in conjunction vith the.egetation monitoring. Samples anal;:ed for heavy matala and salts.zill provide information en changea in local soil charac-teristics as a result of cooling tower drift. Annual samples should be taken a-the same plots for at least a ten-year. period. All experi-mental plots should be located at various distances frca the toucrs l along the axis of the predeninant wind direction. Control plots could be established on similar soil types at locations distant from the towcrs. t. j 2. The vegetatf on monitoring program should be changed drastically l Chart-quadrat methods should be cmoloyed to n.cnitor the effects of salt drif t on perennial uoody. vegetation such as tree saplings cod e shrubs. Observing the name individual plants from year to year would provide better data for showing the effects of salt drift than would point-center-quarter techniques currently used. A yer.rly anal si s of / leaf chlorophyll content, heavy catals and salts would enhance t! e I detection of subtle effects frca cooling teuer drift. As with sc,il samples, study plots should be concentrated along the axis of the major wind direction from the cooling toners. I; 3. The bird kill monitoring program should be conducted for three to five years during both the spring and fall migratory seaacn. The 1974 l Semiannual Environmental Monitoring Report includes data only frcm i June 5-June 30 and Se,tember 1-November 30, 1974 A multi-year study l would take into account effects of weather en bird migration. i } l Reference i j 1 " Final Environmenta l S tatement related to the operation of Three Mile j Island Nuclear Station Units 1 and 2," USAEC, Directorate of Licensing, Decket Nos. 50-239 and 50-320, December 1972. i 4 4 4 t .i k 4 ? 117 04i / s T t t Ne'e== rg =

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