Nuclear Power Plant Sites: Maps of Seismic Hazards and Population Centers

Nuclear Power Plant Sites: Maps of Seismic Hazards and Population Centers

Nuclear Power Plant Sites: Maps of Seismic Hazards and Population Centers

March 29, 2011 (R41729)

Currently, 104 commercial nuclear power plants operate on 64 sites in the 48 contiguous United States.¹ Sixty-nine of the 104 are pressurized water reactors (PWR) and the 35 remaining are boiling water reactors (BWR). The PWR plants are based on Babcock & Wilcox, Combustion Engineering, and Westinghouse designs. The BWR plants are based on a series of General Electric designs. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received 28 Combined License (COL) applications for new reactors based on advanced reactor designs (Table 2). Three COL applications will involve new sites.

CRS determined the coordinates of plant sites using web-based applications and overlaid the sites on base maps of:

1. Quaternary faults,

2. Seismic hazards in terms of percent gravitational acceleration,

3. Levels of horizontal ground shaking (gravitational acceleration) that have a 2-in-100 (2%) probability of being exceeded in a 50-year period, and

4. Metropolitan populations.

To map the proximity of plant sites to faults (Figure 1), CRS referred to the USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database of the United States.² This database contains information on faults and associated folds in the United States that are believed to be sources of greater than magnitude 6 (M>6) earthquakes during the Quaternary (the past 1,600,000 years). It is important to note that this map is not a prediction of an earthquake event.

To map the proximity of plant sites to seismic hazards (Figure 2), CRS referred to the USGS Seismic Hazard Map for the United States.³ This map displays quantitative information about seismic ground motion hazards as horizontal ground acceleration (in terms of gravitational acceleration) of a particle at ground level moving horizontally during an earthquake. It is important to note that this map is not a prediction of an earthquake event.

To map the proximity of plant sites to geographic areas with levels of horizontal shaking having a 2% probability of being exceeded in a 50-year period (Figure 3), CRS referred to the 2008 United States National Seismic Hazard Maps.⁴ The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Seismic Hazard Maps incorporate the latest findings on earthquake ground shaking, faults, seismicity, and geodesy to display earthquake ground motions for various probability levels across the United States. The resulting maps are derived from seismic hazard curves calculated on a grid of sites across the United States that describe the frequency of exceeding a set of ground motions. The Seismic Hazard maps are the basis for seismic design provisions of building codes to allow buildings, highways, and critical infrastructure to withstand earthquake shaking without collapse.⁵ The NRC requires that every nuclear plant be designed for site-specific ground motions that are appropriate for their site locations. In addition, the NRC has specified a minimum ground motion level to which nuclear plants must be designed. For further information about nuclear power plant siting criteria, refer to 10 Code of Federal Regulation, Appendix A to Part 100—Seismic and Geologic Sitting Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants. It is important to note that this map is not a prediction of an earthquake event.

For further information about earthquake hazards, refer to CRS Report RL33861, Earthquakes: Risk, Detection, Warning, and Research, by [author name scrubbed].

In mapping the population near nuclear power sites (Figure 4), CRS referred to the U.S. Census Bureau FactFinder website for 2009 population estimates on the urban area nearest to each of the plant sites.⁶ The latest census figures do not include all smaller geographic locations, so we used Census Bureau estimator for the last known projected estimates before the 2010 census was taken. It is important to note that the circular map symbol denotes population size, not the areal extent of population.

Table 1. Operating Nuclear Power Plants

Unit

Type

MW

Vendor

St.

Unit

Type

MW

Vendor

St.

Arkansas Nuclear One 1

PWR

843

B&W

AR

Monticello

BWR

579

GET3

MN

Arkansas Nuclear One 2

PWR

995

CE

AR

Nine Mile Pt. 1

BWR

621

GET2

NY

Beaver Valley 1

PWR

892

W3L

PA

Nine Mile Pt. 2

BWR

1,140

GET5

NY

Beaver Valley 2

PWR

846

W3L

PA

North Anna 1

PWR

981

W3L

VA

Braidwood 1

PWR

1,178

W4L

IL

North Anna 2

PWR

973

W3L

VA

Braidwood 2

PWR

1,152

W4L

IL

Oconee 1

PWR

846

B&WLL

SC

Browns Ferry 1

BWR

1,065

GET4

AL

Oconee 2

PWR

846

B&WLL

SC

Browns Ferry 2

BWR

1,104

GET4

AL

Oconee 3

PWR

846

B&WLL

SC

Browns Ferry 3

BWR

1,115

GET4

AL

Oyster Creek

BWR

619

GET2

NJ

Brunswick 1

BWR

938

GET4

NC

Palisades

PWR

778

CE

MI

Brunswick 2

BWR

937

GET4

NC

Palo Verde 1

PWR

1,335

CES80

AZ

Byron 1

PWR

1,164

W4L

IL

Palo Verde 2

PWR

1,335

CES80

AZ

Byron 2

PWR

1,136

W4L

IL

Palo Verde 3

PWR

1,335

CES80

AZ

Callaway 1

PWR

1,236

WFL

MO

Peach Bottom 2

BWR

1,112

GET4

PA

Calvert Cliffs 1

PWR

873

CE

MD

Peach Bottom 3

BWR

1,112

GET4

PA

Calvert Cliffs 2

PWR

862

CE

MD

Perry 1

BWR

1,261

GET6

OH

Catawba 1

PWR

1,129

W4L

SC

Pilgrim 1

BWR

685

GET3

MA

Catawba 2

PWR

1,129

W4L

SC

Point Beach 1

PWR

512

W2L

WI

Clinton 1

BWR

1,065

GET6

IL

Point Beach 2

PWR

514

W2L

WI

Columbia Gen. St.

BWR

1,190

GET5

WA

Prairie Island 1

PWR

551

W2L

MN

Comanche Peak 1

PWR

1,200

W4L

TX

Prairie Island 2

PWR

545

W2L

MN

Comanche Peak 2

PWR

1,150

W4L

TX

Quad Cities 1

BWR

867

GET3

IL

Cooper Station

BWR

830

GET4

NE

Quad Cities 2

BWR

869

GET3

IL

Crystal River 3

PWR

838

B&WLL

FL

R. E. Ginna

PWR

498

W2L

NY

Davis-Besse

PWR

893

B&WLL

OH

River Bend 1

BWR

989

GET6

LA

Diablo Canyon 1

PWR

1,151

W4L

CA

Salem 1

PWR

1,174

W4L

NJ

Diablo Canyon 2

PWR

1149

W4L

CA

Salem 2

PWR

1,130

W4l

NJ

Donald C. Cook 1

PWR

1,009

W4L

MI

San Onofre 2

PWR

1,070

CE

CA

Donald C. Cook 2

PWR

1,060

W4L

MI

San Onofre 3

PWR

1,080

CE

CA

Dresden 2

BWR

867

GET3

IL

Seabrook 1

PWR

1,295

W4L

NH

Dresden 3

BWR

867

GET3

IL

Sequoyah 1

PWR

1,148

W4L

TN

Duane Arnold

BWR

640

GET4

IA

Sequoyah 2

PWR

1,126

W4L

TN

Fermi 2

BWR

1,122

GET4

MI

Shearon Harris 1

PWR

900

W3L

NC

Fitzpatrick

BWR

852

GET4

NY

South Texas 1

PWR

1,410

W4L

TX

Fort Calhoun

PWR

500

CE

NE

South Texas 2

PWR

1,410

W4L

TX

Grand Gulf 1

BWR

1,297

GET6

MS

St. Lucie 1

PWR

839

CE

FL

Hatch 1

BWR

876

GET4

GA

St. Lucie 2

PWR

839

CE

FL

Hatch 2

BWR

883

GET4

GA

Surry 1

PWR

799

W3L

VA

Robinson 2

PWR

710

W3L

SC

Surry 2

PWR

799

W3l

VA

Hope Creek 1

BWR

1,061

GET4

NJ

Susquehanna 1

BWR

1,149

GET4

PA

Indian Point 2

PWR

1,023

W4L

NY

Susquehanna 2

BWR

1,140

GET4

PA

Indian Point 3

PWR

1,025

W4L

NY

Three Mile Island 1

PWR

786

B&WLL

PA

Joseph M. Farley 1

PWR

851

W3L

AL

Turkey Point 3

PWR

720

W3L

FL

Joseph M. Farley 2

PWR

860

W3L

AL

Turkey Point 4

PWR

720

W3l

FL

Kewaunee

PWR

556

W2L

WI

VC Summer

PWR

966

W3l

SC

LaSalle County 1

BWR

1,118

GET5

IL

Vermont Yankee

BWR

510

GET4

VT

LaSalle County 2

BWR

1,120

GET5

IL

Vogtle 1

PWR

1,109

W4L

GA

Limerick 1

BWR

1,134

GET4

PA

Vogtle 2

PWR

1,127

W4L

GA

Limerick 2

BWR

1,134

GET4

PA

Waterford 3

PWR

1,250

CE

LA

McGuire 1

PWR

1,100

W4L

NC

Watts Bar 1

PWR

1,123

W4l

TN

McGuire 2

PWR

1,100

W4L

NC

Wolf Creek 1

PWR

1,166

W4L

KS

Millstone 2

PWR

884

CE

CT

Millstone 3

PWR

1,227

W4L

CT

Source: NRC Operating Nuclear Power Reactors by Location or Name.http://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/reactor/index.html#AlphabeticalList

Notes: W2L - Westinghouse Two-Loop, W3L -Westinghouse Three-Loop, W4L -Westinghouse Four-Loop, GET2 -General Electric Type 2, GET3 - General Electric Type 3, GET4 - General Electric Type 4, B&WLL -Babcock & Wilcox Lowered Loop, CES80 -Combustion Engineering System 80

Table 2. Combined License Applications for New Reactors

Received by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Proposed New Reactors

Design

Bell Bend Nuclear Power Plant

U.S. EPR

New Site, Luzerne, PA

Bellefonte Nuclear Station, Unit 3 & 4

AP1000

Callaway Plant, Unit 2

U.S. EPR

Calvert Cliffs, Unit 3

U.S. EPR

Comanche Peak, Units 3 & 4

US-APWR

Fermi, Unit 3

ESBWR

Grand Gulf, Unit 3

ESBWR

Levy County, Units 1 & 2

AP1000

New Site, Levy County, FL

Nine Mile Point, Unit 3

U.S. EPR

North Anna, Unit 3

U.S. EPR

River Bend Station, Unit 3

ESBWR

Shearon Harris, Units 2 & 3

AP1000

South Texas Project, Units 3 & 4

ABWR

Turkey Point, Units 6 & 7

AP1000

Victoria County Station, Units 1 & 2

ESBWR

New Site, Victoria County, TX

Virgil C. Summer, Units 2 & 3

AP1000

Vogtle, Units 3 & 4

AP1000

William State Lee III, Units 1 & 2

AP1000

Source: NRC.

Notes: AP1000—3,400 Megawatt Advanced Passive Reactor, ESBR—4,500 Megawatt Economic Simplified Boiler, U.S. APWR—4, 451 Megawatt Advanced Pressurized Reactor, U.S. EPR—4,500 Megawatt Evolutionary Power Reactor.

Figure 1. Operating Nuclear Power Plants vs. Quaternary Faults Associated with Greater Than Magnitude 6 Earthquakes

Source: Prepared by CRS and the Library of Congress Geography and Maps Division based on USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database of the United States. See also http://earthquakes.usgs.gov/regional/qfaults/ for quaternary fault and fold database information in the United States.

Figure 2. Operating Nuclear Power Plants vs. Seismic Hazards in Terms of Percent Gravitational Acceleration

Source: Prepared by CRS and the Library of Congress Geography & Maps Division based on USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, Hazard Mapping Images and Data.

Figure 3. Operating Nuclear Power Plants vs. Hazard Levels of Horizontal Shaking That Have a 2% Probability of Being Exceeded in a 50-Year Period

Source: Prepared by CRS an the Library of Congress Geography and Maps Division based on USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, Hazard Mapping Images and Data. Ground shaking hazard is expressed as levels of horizontal shaking that have a 2% chance of exceedence in a 50-year period, where "shaking is expressed as a percentage of g (g is the acceleration of a falling object due to gravity)" (USGS 2008 United States National Seismic Hazards Map Factsheet:, http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2008/3018/pdf/FS08-3018_508.pdf).

Figure 4. Operating Nuclear Power Plants vs. Major Metropolitan Areas

Source: Prepared by CRS and the Library of Congress Geography and Maps Division based on U.S. Census Bureau data.

Acknowledgments

Jacqueline Nolan, Library of Congress Geography and Maps Division, [email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed]

Footnotes

1.

There are no nuclear power plants operating in Alaska or Hawaii.

2.

USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, Quaternary Fault and Fold Database of the United States

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/hazards/qfaults/.

3.

USGS http://www.nationalatlas.gov/mld/quksigx.html

4.

USGS, 2008 United States National Seismic Hazard Maps, http://pubs.usgs/fs/2008/3018/pdf/FS08-3018_508.pdf

5.

For complete discussion of the USGS methodology see Mark D. Petersen, Arthur D. Frankel, Stephen C. Harmsen et al.; Documentation for the 2008 Update of the United State National Seismic Hazard Maps. Open-File Report 2008–1128; USGS.

6.

U.S. Census Bureau, American fact Finder, http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en.