ML20097F395

Proposed Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law Re Contention 2 Concerning Old River Control Structure.Related Correspondence

ML20097F395
Person / Time
Site:	River Bend
Issue date:	09/17/1984
From:	GULF STATES UTILITIES CO.
To:
Shared Package
ML20097F363	List: ML20097F360 ML20097F366 ML20097F380 ML20097F383 ML20097F395
References
OL, NUDOCS 8409180505
Download: ML20097F395 (57)

Text

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)

, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 4

Before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board In the Matter of )

I

)

Gulf States Utilities Company, ) Docket No. 50-458 i et al. )

)

(River Bend Station) )

APPLICANTS' PROPOSED FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW RELATED TO

] CONTENTION 2 (OLD RIVER CONTROL STRUCTURE) i

! Findinga of Fact I i i

1. The Old River Control Project (" Project") functions l

1 to control and regulate the amount of water diverted from l the Mississippi River into the Atchafalaya River, thereby l maintaining the stability of both river systems, Fairless, t

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\' 2. ' Without. the Project,.the Mississippi River would

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change its course to that .of the Atchafalaya. River, Fairless, ff.'Tr. at' .

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3. The Old River Control Project is located on the

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, right descending bank _of the Mississippi River, about 50 air miles northwest of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Fairless, ff. Tr.

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f 4. The principal features of the project are: three X])

mechanically operated control structures, designated as the low sill control structure; the overbank control structure; an auxiliary control structure (currently under con-struction); an inflow channel from the Mississippi River to the low sill structure; an outflow channel'from the low sill structure . to the Red River; a lock for navigation; forebay and tailbay channels for the lock; an earthen dam closing Old River; enlargement and extension of main line Mississippi River levees; and bank stabilization as required, Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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5. The low sill- structure is located at about O. Mississippi River Mile 315 above the head of passes (AHP).

The low sill structure is a controlled spillway having a

. gross width of 566 feet between training walls and consist-

- ing principally of gated openings, a stilling basin, train-ing walls, and abutments, Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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6. The spillway section is composed of 11 gate open-

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ings each 44 feet wide, Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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7. The low sill structure is operated on a continuous O basis at all river stages, Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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8. Flows _through the low sill structure are controlled by'meansLof adjustable. vertical steel gates, Fairless, ff.

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i j 9. At high water stages, the overbank control struc-I ture is operated together with- the low sill structure to '

i ' control flows, Fairless, ff. Tr. at . l 7

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10. Upon completion of the auxiliary control structure, i flow regulation will be accomplished by the combined opera-tion of the low sill structure, the overbank structure, and  !

the auxiliary structure, as appropriate, Fairless, ff. Tr.

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11. The Project is operated so as to maintain the flow O distribution between the Mississippi .and Atchafalaya Rivers in approximately the same proportions as occurred naturally (via lower Old River) in 1950, Fairless, ff. Tr. at 1

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12. The 1950 -flow distribution consisted of about 30%

of the total latitude flow (combined flow in the Red River and in the Mississippi River above the control structures) passing down the Atchafalaya River on an annual basis and the remainder down the lcwer Mississippi River, Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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!. 13. To date, maintenance of this 70/30 annual dis-

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tribution is, in fact, e ffective in maintaining a stable 1 l

! . relationship between the two rivers, Fairless, ff. Tr. l l at .

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14. The current Federal Project for flood control and navigation along the lower Mississippi River has been under development for over 50 years and provides a reliable navigation system, a high degree of flood protection, and 'a dependable supply of fresh water, Fairless, ff. Tr. at ,

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. . 15. The Old River Control Project, by maintaining a stable relationship between the Mississippi and Atchafalaya

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Rivers, is an essential element of this plan, Fairless, ff.

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16. Failure of the Old River Control Project, resulting d in a change in the course of the Mississippi River would have disastrous economic, social, and environmental effects on southern Louisiana and the entire nation, Fairless, ff.

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p 17. Were the Old River Control Project to fail and the Mississippi River to change its course, the abundant supply of fresh water in the lower . Mississippi River, which New Orleans and other cities use for drinking water and on which billions of dollars of industrial development are dependent, would be reduced or eliminated, Fairless, ff. Tr. at d

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. 18. Were'the Old River Control Project to fail and the l Mississippi River to change its course, the flood protection system along the Atchafalaya River would not be able to

, accept the change in course without massive flooding and a long and costly redesign and reconstruction of the system,

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19. Were the Old River Control Project to fail and the Mississippi River to change its course, the continued

-existence of- historic towns _along the banks of the

[ Atchafalaya River, such as Kortz Springs, Berwick, 'and Morgan City, would be threatened, Fairless, ff. Tr. at T

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20. Were the Old River. Control Project to fail and the Mississippi River to change its course, vast adverse en-

.vironmental impacts would occur both in the Atchafalaya Basin, America's largest . river swamp, and in the coastal bays and marshes adjacent to the present outlets of the Atchafalaya and Mississippi Rivers, Fairless, ff. Tr.

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j '21. Were the Old River Control Project to fail and the

. Mississippi River to change its course, the tremendous 1

volume of shallow draft navigation between the upper Mississippi River and the ports of Baton Rouge and New Orleans would be seriously disrupted, Fairless, ff. 'Tr.

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22. Erosion (scour) of the inflow and outflow channel bed and banks has occurred in a number of years since the Project was put in operation. Considerable bank stabi- )

lization has been placed- to repair damages and prevent i

continued erosion, Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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23. During the flood of 1973, scour occurred immediate-ly in front of the low sill structure and brought about the

. collapse of one of the concrete inflow training walls, the loss of about one-half of a concrete approach slab in front of the structure, and the formation of a large void under-neath the gated portion of the structure, Fairless, ff. Tr.

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_- 24. To repair the 1973 scour damage, emergency repairs I were required during 1973 and 1974,. consisting of: filling the scour ' hole in front of the structure with riprap; construction of a riprap training dike to replace the 4

i concrete inflow training wall which was destroyed by the scour damage; and filling the void underneath.the structure with cement grout. These repairs were successful in sta-bilizing conditions and preventing further damage, Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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25. From 1975 to the present time, a comprehensive

'l l rehabilitation plan of the entire Old River Complex has been

, carried out by the Corps of. Engineers , Fairless, ff. Tr.

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26. Work completed to date as part of this rehabilita-O tion plan includes modification of the gates of the low sill

structure to improve flow conditions through the structure; additional scour protection in both the inflow and outflow ,

channels of the low sill structure; replacement piezometers at the low sill structure; repair of the stilling basin of the low sill structure; and modification of the overbank control structure, Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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27. The repair and rehabilitation of the low sill structure enabled dependable control to be reestablished over the distribution of flow by 1977 and has provided a high degree of confidence in the ability of the project to meet normal day-to-day operating requirements, including major floods, Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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28. Construction of an auxiliary structure'will insure l - that the differential head ~ does not exceed the safe limit, l Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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29. The Project demonstrated its effectiveness and

, reliability -during the floods of 1979 and 1983, Fairless, t

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d 30.. The auxiliary structure, .the final element in the s

rehabilitation program, is now under construction and is s

- scheduled for completion in the fall of 1986, Fairless, ff.

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31. With -completion of the auxiliary. structure, the i

'O -ability of the Old River project to safely and reliably perform its authorized function under all conditions, including possible emergencies, will be fully restored,

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p 32. The auxiliary structure is designed to operate together with the low sill structure, reducing both hydrau-

.lic and structural stress at the low sill structure and providing needed operational flexibility, Fairless, ff. Tr.

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TV : system, is conducted on a 24 hour per day basis, ,

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34. - Following the scour damage in 1973, strict control-was placed on the allowable differential head at the low sill structure and a comprehensive daily surveillance program for the low sill structure and its adjacent channels was established, Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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35. As part of the surveillance program, technicians at the low sill structure monitor various indicators of struc-tural integrity, Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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l 3 6 ~. . Hydrographic and topograph?.c surveys'of the channel

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bottoms are performed daily as is monitoring of foundation pressures, Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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37. Alignments and vibrations are periodically observed O and recorded, Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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38. The stilling basin of the low - sill structure is l . inspected - annually, water levels permitting, Fairless, ff.

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1 39- " Failure" of the Old River Project is defined as a situt. un wherein the project is damaged to the point that it is unable to operate. The definition does not require that failure be of a sudden and massive nature, Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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40. Studies of the low sill structure have identified

! three possible failure modes: (1) failure of the stilling basin of the structure, (2) failure of the main (gated portion) structure, and (3) failure of the levee system, adjacent to the structure, Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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41. While the levee system adjacent to the Old River Control Structure could fail, the likelihood of such failure l

is not greater at the Old River Control Structure than at j 1

! any other point in the system, Fairless, ff. Tr. at i

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42. Failure of a levee would not produce the cata-strophic consequences that failure of the low sill structure I

would, Fairless, ff. Tr. at . l l

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/ 43. Under the most adverse circumstances, one of these failures could occur suddenly. Even if this were to occur, 4 however, there would not be a sudden shifting of the Mississippi River to a new channel. Rather, the Mississippi River would begin to gradually shift to a new channel. If this gradual movement was not altered by emergency con-struction, the change in course would take years to com-plete, Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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44. The Corps has prepared a contingency plan for I

implementation in the event of incipient failure at the low e

sill structure, Fairless,-ff. Tr. at .

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45. The contingency plan provides for construction of a riprap dam across the inflow channel leading to the low sill

, structure, providing either a partial or complete closure as the situation may require, Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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46. It 'is estimated that about 235 months would be l required to construct the first stage (partial closure) of the riprap dam and about 4 to 5 additional months would be required to complete the full closure dam, Fairless, ff. Tr.

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4 47'. Full' restoration and/or replacement of the low. sill t

!- structure would require several years, Fairless, ff. Tr.

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48. During this period of construction the flow in~the

! Mississippi River might be decreased, Fairless, ff. Tr.

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, . 49. Based upon River Bend Station's river water re- i quirements, it is not expected that this possible decrease in flow would be sufficient to affect adversely the plant's cooling water requirements, Fairless, ff. Tr. at

.i i  ; Cahill, et al., Tr. at 2, 12 and at 3, 16.

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50. A failure of the low sill structure would set in motion processes which, if not altered by emergency con-struction, would, over a period of years, result in a change ,

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of course of the Mississippi River to the Atchafalaya River,

, Fairless, ff. Tr. at . i i.

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51. Were the low sill structure to fail and the ,

j Mississippi River to change its course, flows in the Mississippi River downstream of Old River would decrease

! with time and eventually the lower Mississippi would receive a

little or no flow during low water periods and significant flows only during high water periods, Fairless, ff. Tr.

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52. Were the low sill structure to fail and the Mississippi River to change its course, the rate at which this reduction would ' occur is greatly dependent upon the 4

hydrologic conditions occurring from year to year and cannot be foretold but it would likely take at least several years, i

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.i O 53. Were the Old River Control Project to fail and the V

l Mississippi River to change its course, salt water intrusion I would increase as flows in the lower Mississippi River

' decreased and at the extreme condition, where little or no flow was entering the river, salinity levels at River Bend -

Station would approach those of seawater, Fairless, ff. Tr. l at .

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j. 54. Were the Old River Control Project to fail and the Mississippi River to change its course, sedimentation would

. occur in the channel below Old River, but it is likely that sufficient water would remain available at the River Bend

} Station for its operation, Fairless, ff. Tr. at  ;

, Cahill, et al., Tr. at 2, 12 and at 3, 16.

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I 55. With the auxiliary structure completed and in f

] operation, and assuming an appropriate maintenance program, 4

the probability of a failure of the Old River Project is almost nil, Fairless, ff. Tr. at .

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56. Assuming a hypothetical failure, salt water could eventually intrude into the tarea of the River Bend Station.

+Because it is not possible to predict the yearly flow regime ,

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or the time necessaryg for . complete diversion, it is not 1 possible to predict how long the salt line would require to reach the River Bend . Station, Fairless, ff. Tr. at t

Cahill, et al., Tr. at 2-3, 14.

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57. Were there to be any extended saltwater intrusion into the vicinity near River Bend Station, GSU would shut down the facility, if operational conditions required, until l i

a safety and environmental evaluation demonstrated that the I-plant could be restarted and an economic evaluation would be conducted to determine whether this course was warranted, Cahill, et al., ff. Tr. at 3, 15.

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t 558. There exist alternative means by which River Bend Stition eculd - be operated in the hypothetical event of 0

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. - reduced freshwater flow in the Mississippi River channel or o['the pre sence of-the salt line near River Bend' Station,

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59. A viable alternative should the Old River Control Project fail, salt water be present near the River Bend i

i site, and operational conditions require.would be to extend

'the makeup water pipeline from its present point of suction in the Mississippi . River channel westward approximately 25 miles to the Atchafalaya River channel, Cahill, et al., ff.

Tr. at 4, 18(a).

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60. A viable alternative should the Old River Control Project fail, salt water be present near the River Bend site, and operational conditions require would be to extend the makeup water pipeline northwestward approximately 30 miles to the Mississippi River above the point of the Old River Control Project. This alternative would avoid a Mississippi River Channel crossing, Cahill, et al., ff. Tr.

at 4, 18(b).

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61. A viable alternative should the Old River Control Project fail, salt water be present near the River Bend site, and operational conditions require would be to install a reverse osmosis system to treat saline water for use as cooling tower makeup, Cahill, et al., ff. Tr. at 4, 18(c).

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62. A viable alternative should the Old River Control Project fail, salt water be present near the River Bend 1

site, and operational conditions require would be to re-  !

I place, where necessary, the components and piping systems carrying river water with materials compatible with salt water. These systems include the makeup water system,-

circulating water system, and the service water system, Cahill, et al., ff. Tr. at 4-5, 18(d).

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, 63. A viable alternative should the Old River Control Project fail, salt _ water be present near the River Bend site, and operational conditions require would be to sepa-rate the service water system, which provides cooling to safety-related components, from the circulating water system. A cooling tower would be added for heat dissipation from this system and makeup water wculd be supplied from groundwater wells. The circulating water system (condenser) could be modified using saltwater-compatible materials.

Water would be supplied from the river channel as makeup, Cahill, et al., ff. Tr. at 5, 18(e).

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64. Considering'the present investment in the facility, there are -available alternatives should the Old River Control. Structure fail, Cahill, et al., ff. Tr.- at 5, 19.

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Before proceeding with any alternative, a detailed feasibility and cost analysis. would be conducted after consultation with governmental authorities, Cahill, et al.,

ff. Tr. at 5, 19.

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66. An environmental assessment of the selected changes would be submitted to the NRC, Cahill, et al., ff. Tr. -

at 5, 19.

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67. In the event the Old River Control Structure were to fail, several of the available alternatives may be amenable to joint action by users of Mississippi River water. For such alternatives, the pro rata share of cost for River Bend Station. would be expected to be less than I

discussed above, Cahill, et al., ff. Tr. at 5-6, 110.

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68. The probability of failure of the Old River Control Structure is not sufficiently high that the consequences of Operating the River Bend Station following such failure must be considered, Cahill, et al., ff. Tr. at 6, 111.

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69. Applicants have considered the public health, safety, and- environmental impacts of further facility L operation under altered river flow and salinity conditions in'the event of failure, Cahill, et _al., -

ff. Tr. at 2-6, 113-11.

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Conclusions of Law The probability of failure of the Old River Control Structure is not sufficiently high that the consequences'of operating the River Bend Station following such failure must be considered.

2. Applicants have considered the public health, safety, and environmental impacts of further facility operation under altered river flow and salinity conditions in the event of failure.

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3. Alternative means do exist whereby River Bend Station could be ' operated under altered river flow and salinity' conditions in the hypothetical event of a failure t

'of the Old River Control Structure. .

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- 4. The issuance of an operating license to the Appli- j i

cants will not be inimical to the common -defense and securi-ty or to the health and safety of the public.

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i .5. Pursuant to 10 C.F.R. S2.760a'and 10.C.F.R. S50.57,

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the Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation should be au-1-

l thorized to issue to the Applicants, upon making requisite findings with respect to matters not embraced in the Initial Decision, a license authorizing operation of River Bend Station.

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