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- W H 8 4 519 JOHN 8tl5 SIN R V f H E R F O R D.
ST R UCTU R AL ENGIN(It tit G E ARY St.. AM. 406. S AN FR ANCISCO + YU !.5445 CO N ST A N TIN E C. CH,jK E N E. STR U CTU R AL (NGIN e g t (def / )
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g t-Mr. Glenn T. Seaborg, Chairman d/ -
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Dear Sir:
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i P.G.&E. reactor at Bodega Head.
The'recently issued B%nljla-S l
locker report indicates that the sit.e is underlain by a seismic
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fault of undetermined age.
The report states that a severe seismic shock could result in horizontal or vertical movement in the order of a few feet at or near the surface of the site.
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Our firm has designed structures which we know are located near seismic faults.
In each case we have felt it our obligation to in-l form our client of the risk involved, and admit that we cannot design a structure which will withstand undamaged an earth movement of even a few inches.
If the owner knows the risks involved and the struc-l ture under consideration does not pose a threat to public safety l
in the event of its collapse, I believe construction in a zone of k.nown seismic activity is. justifiable.
The P.G.&E. nuclear reactor presents a different problem.
Damage to this structure could threaten public safety.
Perhaps the Bonilla-Schlocker report exaggerates the magnitude and probab-ility of earth movement.
The fact remains that neither the amount of recorded seismic data nor the state of the structural engineer.i.ng ar,t is presently sufficient to design against fault movements direc-tly underlying a structure.
Until quite recently even California engineers based seismic design procedures on static force concepts.
The dynamic design procedure developed by the Structural Engineers I
Association is a significant step in the right direction, but few of.us pretend that this procedure is anything more than a rational I
guess.
Each new earthquake provides more data and enables us to.
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devise more sophisticated analyses which reduce the magnitude of
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.our probable error, but it will be years, perhaps centuries, before we can present a client with a close approximation of seismic risks and we will never be able to design a rigid structure capable of l
resisting without damage a severe fault movement through the struc-l ture itself.
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l-Mr. Glenn T. Seaborg i
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January 22, 1964 I believe that under the circumstances the Bodega Head site should be abandoned.
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It is unfortunate that P.G.&E. has already spent substantial sums in plant design and site excavation, but the uncertainty of the geologic and seismic conditions seems suf-ficient to justify suspension of construction.
Collapse of the Baldwin Hills Reservoir, which may be due to an unmapped seismic fault, illustrates the possible consequence of building a nuclear reactor at Bodega Head.
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si,ncere'ly yours,.
Rutherford & CNekene
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John B. Rutherford JBR:cyb i
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Governor Edmund G. Brown Senator Thomas Kuchel g
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For Information For appropriate handling For preparation of reply for Chaiman's signature For discussion at Commissioners' Infomation Meeting For distribution to other Commissioners
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For the Chairman
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