Potential Impacts of Accelerated Climate Change (Annual Report of Work)
This research project is part of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) Probabilistic Flood Hazard Assessment (PFHA) research plan in support of developing a risk-informed licensing framework for flood hazards and design standards at proposed new facilities and significance determination tools for evaluating potential deficiencies related to flood protection at operating facilities. The PFHA plan aims to build upon recent advances in deterministic, probabilistic, and statistical modeling of extreme precipitation events to develop regulatory tools and guidance for NRC staff with regard to PFHA for nuclear facilities. The tools and guidance developed under the PFHA plan will support and enhance the NRC’s capacity to perform thorough and efficient reviews of license applications and license amendment requests. They will also support risk-informed significance determination of inspection findings, unusual events, and other oversight activities. For Year 1, specifically, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) staff: Prepared an annual report that summarizes recent scientific findings, reports on activities of federal agencies with direct responsibility for climate change science, and provide a qualitative assessment of these findings relevant to NRC concerns on a regional level (i.e., increasing air and water temperatures, decreasing water availability, increasing frequency and intensity of storms and flooding, and sea level rise). Participated in annual webinars with NRC staff at NRC Headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. Presented updates summarizing recent scientific findings at the NRC PFHA Workshop Headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. PNNL staff have identified neither technical nor programmatic issues in proceeding with Year 2 activities. PNNL staff updated this report in March and April 2019.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1593351
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-24868 Rev. 1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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