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Title: Tornado risk and design windspeeds for the Portsmouth Plant Site

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6192752

The purpose of this study is to determine the probability of tornadic and straight winds exceeding a threshold value in the geographical region surrounding the Portsmouth, Ohio Plant Site. The probability that winds will exceed a specific value within the lifetime of a structure represents a level of risk that can be associated with design criteria for the structure. The design criteria presented in this study are based on a level of risk represented by a 16% probability that the design windspeed will be exceeded within a 50 year lifetime of the structure. Design criteria associated with other levels of risk can be established from the windspeed probability distribution presented in this report. Probability distributions for windspeeds from tornadoes, extreme winds and a combination of the two are shown. The 16% probability in 50 years is equivalent to a probability of 3.4 x 10/sup -3/ in one year. A maximum design windspeed of 100 mph is associated with this level of risk. Other parameters associated with this maximum windspeed are determined from tornado vortex mechanics. The extreme wind and tornado parameters are presented. The remainder of the report is devoted to a technical discussion of the development of the windspeed probability distributions. Design criteria for other levels of risk are also presented.

Research Organization:
Union Carbide Corp., Oak Ridge, TN (USA). Nuclear Div.; Texas Tech Univ., Lubbock (USA). Inst. of Disaster Research
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-26
OSTI ID:
6192752
Report Number(s):
K-BD-1059-Pt.3; ON: DE81028533; TRN: 81-015379
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English