ML20236L279

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Motion Requesting AEC to Review Aslab 710614 Decision Re PG&E Application for Cp.Supporting Documentation Encl
ML20236L279
Person / Time
Site: Diablo Canyon Pacific Gas & Electric icon.png
Issue date: 06/23/1971
From: Eissler F
SCENIC SHORELINE PRESERVATION CONFERENCE, INC.
To:
US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC)
Shared Package
ML20236J368 List: ... further results
References
FOIA-87-214 NUDOCS 8708100195
Download: ML20236L279 (7)
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ATOMIC EIE3GY COMMISSION IN THE F55ER OF )

)

PACIFIC GAS AND ELE 0'3 TIC 00F.PANY ) Docket No. 50-323 (Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power )

Plant, Unit 2) )

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Scenic Shoreline ' Reservation Conference, Inc. files the following motion requesting the Atomic Energy Commission to review the decision of June 14, 1971 by the Atomic Safety and Lice'aing Appeal Board (Board) in the matter of the P,*ific Gas and Electric Company's application for a permit to conatruct Diablo Canyon' Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 2 Scenic Shoreline believes that the Eoerd decision inadequately evaluatet basic questions relating to Commission and public policy and to ,

public heal-;h and safety. The provisiona Of 10CFE 2.786 fully warrant l Commission review of this significant essa.

1 Scenic Shoreline widhes to reassert all of its " Exceptions to the

! Initial Decist.on" (December 30, 1970) for direc t consideration b;r the Commission : tself. Cur orgaciention requests that careful s.ttettion be given especially to reological and seismological evidence in the l i

record and in supplemental docuoents indicating the existence of active  !

fault zones in the Diablo r?gion of suffic but map.itude to affect i

plant siting and design. i i

Scenic Shoreline has retained an att.vsey to ;ursue this particular i

case and seoka further opportunity to percitt him to familiarize hie =

self with the details of these issues. Fo.? this ree. son we request.

additional time beyond the allocs.ted 15 de ua to prepare further 4

contentions on all the exceptione already filed. In the mentito, however, we are submiting the following ceu:nents c:. the geological and seismic fr.ctors s.t issue.

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.The fourth exception asserted by Scenic Shoreline charges that the initial decision is deficient with respect to the impact of seismic and geological conditions upon plant siting and design. Gur organization has maintained the.t the record adequately substantiate.]

the neev. for further study of the earthqual:e potential in the Diablo l

region prior to any determination on the inauance of a construction permit. Our testimony refers to two fault conca, the Los Osos, Edru and West Huanna complex and the Murray facture ::one and a potential northeant- southwest offshoot (Tr. Aug 69d h) from this zone that could 1

place Diablo 1 and 2 in a "re gion of no cou;truction. " (Tt. Aug 7G., l Or geolcgist reported that an aligununt of some forty offshore epicenters reported from June 1969 through nid-1970 indichte a ncrtheast-southwer;t offsnot of the Murray fracture z:r;% rhe Board in its decision (p. 5) atates chat car geolor:lat by his or tes:imony indi:ated :hst the seismological laboratory at Pasadena did no; know whether th:.3 alignment of epicentara were accidental or of algnificant importance .

(Or. t.uc,, 74) The hard stressed its own concitasion that or geologists l

assertic na ace " plainly speculative.. " (p. f). Ds.ta indicating the taistence !

l of this re. ult atructure have now been publ:t thed by our geologist (Ralph Yesna "Seimic Activity near the Ensu: n und of the Murray Frf cture Zone" , Ceclogical Society of America Bulle :in, v. 8?,. p. 'T39-792, t'e rch 1971 - copy attached ) ~ Comments on~ his dats. and requests for his article are being received f.mm scientista around :re world, His .:omments on the tectoaics of che Diablo region and :N insights they g?ov!.ie j i

on the relation of coceaic to continental .'eatures are gaSuing the f.tuen-tion they deserve in ':he scientific cccmun:.ty and are of prinary sigTrifi- l

(

crece te any decision concerning the sitir.g and des.'.gn of the Dicble  ;

nuclear installation % Specifically the contentions by ths Board (I.5)

I that there is no evidence of any structural trend e:ttending north- j eastward from the area of concentrated eartaqua':e epicentecs, thet

i an offshoot at an angle of 30 degrees to 45 degrees to the nurray fracturs would involve inconceivabic mechanics E.tre not supported by the record and do not conform to accumulating evidence on these subjects.

In matters of thic importance with the extraordinary dangers that an earthqude induc >d disaator would cause, especia.11y in the  !

i earthquake groncCalifornia region at thic crucial ;unctur of some of the world'c,rx s:: crteanive earthquake zones; i.t 5.s 1:0uabe n upon the Conmission o provile definite and clecr assurance that these geological questions cJe competently and completely L:aly(ed Our iscologist has li.sted certain s.'.mpic ,and. necessary onethe ground tents and studies i '

I mhich would provide thee necesaary assurance,. 'he Atomic Saf ety and Licensing Bot.ci in ..ns initial decision has fai. lei to Esd:e t. required ruling ,

on the eriscence of ;he offchore fault, ateting instead '.n t. conditional sense that i,f a rorchecat-southwest fault axists, as we contend, a j predicted e,:.r2quaka would probably excee...i the PSE design-basis earth- 1 quake.

Tr e Boarl decision (p. 26) observes : tat 'the record includes little l

discuerian of the netters re:iuicing further recarch and -icvelopIert."

The Borri fur char re:n.wks that_"iTnile we onsiler :he state of the record in t iis resi act as adequate for th i con struction ;3rmit in )

I view of the usitten av:.donce preeonted, w i sis t tc stresi the importance l we a: trna to the tinl/ identification ani res)1ution of those safct;7 oriented resurch on.1 development iteen r 5.0h cay te required before an operatM ticenes mx/ be granted," Semic Shoreline ntangly a:? firms its poniticn that the record 'in view of i;he wcitten eviaence presonted" adequasely Mcifies reject;on of the cozc:ruction partit at this ';ime i and that furt.her evidence not in the writi:en recori strengthens Sconic Shorel:.ne % contentions. For this reason ne tr.ve aeked f nd contirne i to ask for ncw hearinga on the seisnics :JLos cal issues and other que stiore: vs have reised. Ve f urther ai'f:.:.'m that the tr2.4or rese arch 1

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l e I;w and development question d. alir g with seismic-geolog'. cal impact upon the siting and selsnic design m tst appropriately be considered at It could be devastatingly construci. ion rather than the operational stage, wasteful to Pacalic, to the federal government,ani to the rate payer if cor struction proceeded .it ;2 arst expense ; when later tectonic consider-ation$ rule sgair.st the sit a arc plant design. Unquearionably significant eviderce, at thc very leas;, ct wonstrates that vital tecjonic issues recair. unresolved. Wnen e xper t.s disagree and agencies hold ambiguous t

and conflicting positions, the ":etter part of wisdom, especially when cuch crucia.1 matters tre Ec; issue, requires tne Commission to take the route . f caution ind c.1re for tne public interest by pursuing f t

necessary additional studiis pr.l.or to decicion making <.

l Sub nitted, by

/ M Pce.3;.Ndent< Eissler Scenic Shoreline Preservs. tion Conference, Inc, 4623 Kore Mesa Drive Santa Barbara, Californis 93110 June 23, 1971

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RAl.VH 6. VK AN A Pim:o D,p.srtmoit Cahy m da .v.n, PuhreJnic G , xv: I r.i, W o fe, Cahpanti. &bt Seismic Activity near the Eastern End l

I of the Murray Fracture Zone The accuracy of the ;ocation of cpaenters ABSTRACT m the general area is no: good, particularly in the east west dircaion Ruhter,1969). The A senes of earthquake epicenters express area is midway between the Berkeley and an apparent northeast southwest trend in Pasadena stations, I asked for an opinion on the ocean off Pt. Arguello. Other features on . the accuracy of these epicenters from the the ocean floor nearby and faultmp inland seismological M Nordquist (1970, laboratccy at Pasadena.

personal commun. te- J)ohn mdicate that the epicenter reports are accu.

rate. At least one large quake has been re. plied that the geometry of the station net ported in this zone (7.5 magnitude,1927), accounted fairly well for the range of all the Activity of the slowly moving type along the magnitude 4.0 and over shocks in the 1969-Murray may induce this activity. The San 1970 series. He described how an error of one Andreas fault inay also be involved. second in arrival time socid tend to shift the ePi centers from a single location to a

! INTRODUCTION northeast southwest ime. As a counter to I would like to call attention to what may this attempted explana: ion," NorJquist con.

be a nauent fracture zone heading in a north- tinued, "is the fact that the smaller shocks of east direcnon from near the end of the Mur- the senes are clustered near the northeast end ray fracture zone as the Murray approaches of the zone, although one would expc.cc more the California coast off Point Arguello. Ex- measurement oflate arrivals at Woody, China tending from the continental shelf to the Lake, Isabella, and Goustone, which should deep ocean, a 3eries of some forty earthquakes tend to force the ep,icenter solutions toward were reported from June 1969 through mid- the southwest end et the zone, if all epicenters 1970. Five of these were more than 5 in were near one point." Nordquist concludes, magnituJe, and 19 were between .1 and 5. "We are left holding a mystery." More ade.

The major esent was a magnitude 5.8 shock quate seismograph stanons would help re-on Nosember 5,1969, near the northeast so ve this, end. There were ample foreshocks to this 5.8 The structural onshcre trends and onshore magnitude event. The positions of most of faulting, including the San Andreas, trend the shocks werc obtaineJ from Prehmmary northwest or about at nght angles to the l

Data Reports K55A, now part of NOAA). direction taken by these epicenters. This These earthquaie epicenters express a northw est trend conun_e,0fishore into much northeas:oouthw est line some 15 mi wide of the region of the epicenters, particularly and 100 mi long. with one epicenter 13 mi the shoreward end. Obuously the alignment eff the coast. If a record of earlier seismicity of the epicenters does not retlect the struc-is included, the kneanty of the epicenters is rural trends of the cominent. The Garlock preserved. A major quake of magnitude 7.5 .ind White Wolf fauhs at the same latitude on Nosember 4,1927, was in this line. Its and farther east are notade exceptions. Faults reported position is within 10 mi of a cluster m this area are mentioned by King (1969) as of 13 earthquakes in the present series. Espe. bemg possibly related to the Murray fracture ually mteresting is a sequence of four quakes zone.

on October 23, 1969, whose reported posi. Several considerations support the possi.

nons swept our progressively, a straight line bility that these epicenters are accurately re-

0 mi in length. Several other epicenters on ported. First, the Erray fracture is suspi.

October 22 and October 24 were also in this ciously close to the hne of epicenters. About line.

Geol ical Soc ty of Arnerica Bulletin, v. 62, p. 789 792, I fig., March 1971 789

a

, "90 . R. VR ANA- 5r1SMIC ACTIVITY, AIURR AY FR ACTURL20NC 60 mi hepnd where the Murray loses mor. the contment where the fracture zone ap-lwhologic expression at its eastern end, the proaches shore. Tu largest bend in the Calii me of (puenters begins in a northeast direc- fornia coast is in the vicinity of the epicen.

tion.1.andward of 123' West, the overlymg ters. Because volcanism has been strat. alon : the Murray's projected trace are three establishederbranchings fracture ofo:n,part of th undeformu. (von Huene,1969L There is eones, high heat flow in the recon of the teuonnm m the sediment <, on the northern epicenters would support the pos'sthility that flank of tae Arguello fan which lies adjacent ' they are indicating structure.

to the hne of epicenters. Von Huene pomts Further evidence that these epacmcrs are out that hnear elements of the bench on- truly oriented northeast. southwest n the eu which re>d the RoJriguez 3eamount have a istence of faults between the Murray and northeast trend (paralL. ,o Arguello Canyon Pioneer fractures which trend ;n a northeast.

and the hne of epicenters) as well as a north- direction (see Fig.1). These faults on the-west trenJ, parallel to the continental slope). deep-ocean floor were identified by bathym.

This bench is a depressed block of the outer etry and distortion of magnetic anomalies continental shelf. Palmer (1964) points.out (Bassinger and others,1969),

that the Rodriguez seamount among many. If the northeast end of the epicenter line is others in :he area has a northeast trending extended, it crosses the San Andreas fault in -

axis and may have formed along one of a the Cholame area where a recent earthquake -

series of northeast.crending fractures associ- of magnitude 5.5 occurred onJune 27,1966.

aged with the Murray. Mmor lineations on- A considerable amount of slow movement of J the north side of the Murray fracture trend the San Andreas followed this event. During northeast Menard,1959). Thus, in the im- the period of recent offshore activity, two mediate area of the epicenters, there is suth- small qua'kes were reported in the Cholame cient other evidence to point to a northeast area. The San Andreas in adjacent areas dur-trend as bemg significant. ing this period was inactive.

The Ime of epicenters makes an angle of' The Mendocino fracture zone,450 mi to approuma:ely 45' with the Murray fracture the north of the Murray, shows seismicity at which for some 3000 km has preserved its its eastern end. Between the two fracture .

hnearity m a slightly north of east direction. zones, seismicity on the ocean floor at pres-It is not unusual to fmd such branching. It ent is reduced. Quakes were reported on a occurs in a northeast direction off the Clip- linear extension of the Mendocino for some l

percon. Ga:4pagos, and 1: aster fracture zones, 60 miinland during the period of study The where the banching is well expressed on the epicenters described here may be an expres-ocean doc,r. Menard (1964, p.136) accounts sion of the same forces which are at work at for this as being associated with a bend in the eastern end of the Mendocino where a l

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4 EPICfkTER$7 t.cs auttes E NT 9 tJCARPMellt i-Figure 1. Recent seismic activity near the castern end of the Afurray fracture zone, June 1969 through mid 1970.

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2 REfLRENCEd Cl1. "D 791 I

nascent fracture zotic is postulated (Nor:h. C hforni.s co43t where this trend of epicenters.

rup and others,1968). Findings m char study ,

extended. woulJ come ashore. Further were based on a hydroacoastic study of s:ady would . assist in evaluating earthquake  ?

smaller shocks m the area. A sirnilar study . anger to such structures as well as prmiJmg off the Murray facture might be prcaritable. a better understandmg of tectonics m the Datieren(e m offset along the Murray WO regiun.

1. xm at the western end and ISO km at the eastern end) mdicates its failure to have REFERENCES CITED moved as a unit m the past. Greater displace.

mtnt of the end farther from the continent Bassinger, U. G.; DeWald, O. E.; Peter, G.

argues for a dirierence in resistance to stress Interpretation of the magnetic anomalies along the Murray. Smce the end with smaller off central California: ). Geophys. Res.,

offset is closer to the contment, perhaps con.

V I 74 King, Phih'.No. 6, p.14Ha-1487,1969. ,p B. The tectonics of Ac cinental crust has held back movement along America: U.S. Geol. Surv., Prof. Paper 628 this fracture. If so, adjustments _ might sti[1 (accompanies Tectonic . Map of North  :

De in ptr,gress. America),1969. -j j

Menard, H.W. Minor knearions in the Pacific  !

CONCLUSIONS basin: Geol. Soc. Amer., Bull., Vol. 70, Movement may still occur on the Murray p.1491-1495.1959. )

and Mendocino fractures. Such movement, Menard, H.W. Marine geology of the Pacific:

if it occurs, is largely accomplished without McGraw-Ht!! Book Co.,271 p., New York, 1964.

earthquakes. Seismicity is only present along such fractures near their intersections with A. rthrup, J.; Menard, H. W.; Duennchier,  ;

17 . Seismic and batl metric evidence other fe,atures (Kins,1969). These "other ofa fracturezone on Gor a Ridge: Science, featuies act as loads to stabihee the under- Vol.161. No. 380, p. 6HH -690,196&

l lying shear tendency. 'I he offshore epicenters Palmer, H. D. Marine geology of Rodriguez near the Murr.ty fracture and at the eastern Seamdunt: Deep-Sea Res., Vol.11 p. 737-end of the Mendocino are cases in point. If 756,126 L l

l slow movement is occurring along the Mur. Richter, Charles F. Possible seismicity of the Nacimiento fault, Cahfornia: Geol Soc.

ray,it is reasonable to expect such movement

o he reRected by faulting where a thicker ' Amer., bull., Vol. 80, p.1363-1366.1969.

"U"C"**. Roland. Geologic structure be.

l rigid continental ' crust exists abm e, or near. tween me Munay hacture z ne and the {

l ny. These epicenters are a 8ood workm-e -

Transverse Rances: Mar. Geol., \ cl. 7, ground for t, hose who are interested m re. p 473_.,99, 394.

l lating oceanic to continental features. Such work has its practical side. Large nuclear Muuscatrr Rtcrivro By Tile SOCIETY i power plants are planned on the section of Stertusta 10.1970 {

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