Nuclear power generation has become an increasingly attractive alternative in the global power market due to growing demand for electric power, increasing global competition for fossil fuels, concern over greenhouse gas emissions and their potential impact on climate change, and the desire for energy independence. Nuclear energy plays an integral role in providing carbon free energy for sustainable development of global electric power generation. Assuring the protection of people and the environmental is a prime consideration in the design, construction, and operation of nuclear power plants. Potential environmental and safety concerns must be carefully evaluated and addressed. In order to assure that the nuclear power plant designs are sufficiently robust, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) requires that applicants for early site permits (ESP) and construction/operating licenses (COL) identify the most severe natural phenomena historically reported for the site and surrounding area to ensure sufficient design margin exists, considering the limited accuracy, quantity, and time in which the associated data has been collected. Because these permits are valid for a period up to 40 years, the potential impacts of climate change on the severity of natural phenomena, as it relates to the design basis and nuclear safety and environmental impacts are of increasing interest. Although no conclusive evidence or consensus of opinion is available on the long-term climatic changes resulting from human or natural causes, the USNRC has requested that climate change forecasts be considered for their potential affecting the most severe natural phenomena. The specific subject areas of concern include: • Extreme temperature and extreme precipitation (liquid & frozen) statistics – review 100 years of data around the site versus a review of the previous 30 years of data. • Extreme wind/basic wind speed – review previous 100 years of tropical cyclone data (including hurricanes) in the site vicinity versus previous 30 years of data. • Tornado – review of frequency and intensity trends and forecasts. • Drought – review of water availability / water supply during drought conditions and drought of record. • Stagnation Potential – review of conditions that would result in restrictive dispersion of greenhouse gas emissions. This paper examines the challenges and constraints in identifying and developing appropriate design- and operating-basis site/regional meteorological conditions while accounting for potential climate change during preparation of an ESP and/or COL. Because there is no regulatory guidance or quantitative acceptance criteria currently available, the methodology used to address climate change in a recent issued ESP will be discussed as an example.
Power generation is well recognized as a major prerequisite for a country’s economic development. Nuclear power has become an increasingly attractive alternative in the power market worldwide due to several factors: growing demand for electric power, increasing global competition for fossil fuels, concern over greenhouse gas emission impacts on global warming, and the desire for energy independence. Protecting people and the environment is of concern to nuclear power generators. Thus, sound engineering design that provides adequate protection against natural and man-made hazards is of utmost importance. Meteorological parameters related to structure design and system operation are the extreme and mean values for wind speed, temperature, humidity, and precipitation, as well as the seasonal and annual frequencies of severe weather conditions such as tornadoes and hurricanes, ice and snow accumulation, hail and lightning. Inherent in ascertaining values for these parameters is the need for reasonable assurance that the chosen values and frequencies will not be exceeded during the expected life of the plant. All regional meteorological and air quality conditions are classified as climate site characteristics for consideration in evaluating the design and operation of a nuclear power plant [1]. This paper discusses the regulatory requirements, methodology and sources of data for development of the design- and operating-basis regional meteorological conditions used in preparing a Combined License Permit Application (COLA) in the United States. Additionally, the differences in methodology for determination of these meteorological conditions by reactor type (i.e., Advanced Passive 1000–AP1000, Advanced Boiling Water Reactor–ABWR, Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor–ESBWR, U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor–U.S. EPR, and Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor–APWR) are explored and summarized.
Nuclear power generation has become an increasingly attractive alternative in the United States (U.S.) power market due to several factors: growing demand for electric power, increasing global competition for fossil fuels, concern over greenhouse gas emissions and their potential impact on climate change, and the desire for energy independence. Assuring the protection of people and the environment are of paramount concern to nuclear power generators and regulators as we move towards a possible nuclear renaissance. Thus, sound engineering design is of utmost important and potential environmental and safety concerns must be carefully evaluated and disposition during permitting of the new nuclear power plants. Areas to be considered in order to alleviate these concerns include the following: • Site meteorology and dispersion conditions of the area; • Evaluation of radiological consequence during normal plant operation and emergency conditions; • Water availability for plant cooling system; • Evaluation of potential land use, water use, ecological and socioeconomic impacts of the proposed action. This paper focuses on site suitability evaluation for greenfield sites through site characterization, examination of challenges/constraints in deployment of available technology/plant systems, and mapping of permitting compliance strategy. Case studies related to selection of plant systems based on the environmental site conditions, preferred compliance plan, and public acceptance, are included.
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