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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERICR
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GEOLOGICAL SURVEY wainoro..o.c. avaa
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Nr. Hamid. L. Price g3 l
Director of Regulation U.S. Atomic Encrcy Coudssion 4915 St. F.1ro Avenue Bethesda, Maryland 20014
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Transmitted herewith in resjonse to the reg %st of Mr. Rocer 8. Eoyd is
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a review of the 'ceologic as:cets of the Prell:dnary S&fety Anulysis Egort B
of the Philadelphia Electric Corrany for its propsed Limerick Generating Ctstion Units 1 and 2, Pocacylvaniu. In accordance with the understandings between the Secretary of t.hc Interict and the Atoicic Ecorry Cocasission, March 20, 1964, the review is concorr.ed with those CoolCG o aspects which i
might have a beariac on your safet;/ review.
The review, prepared by Dr. Elmer H. Baltz of the Ccological Survey, bss been discussed with members of your staff and we have no objection to your, making it a lert of the public record.
Sincerely yours, W),
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k Acting Director mus.
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Philadelphia Electric Company Lir.crich Generating Station Units 1 and 2 Geolocy The analyscs of the ecolocy and foundation conditions of the !.imerick Ge.iorating a
StatW ette in po'.itbeertern Tennrylvenin, e.e pretenief. in f.rc behet re:. 50-352-and 50-353 and Sufpled.ents verc reviewed end comparcd with the literature. The annlyses present an adequate appreical of those essccic of ecolocy and foundation gI conditions that are portinent to an encineerins evaluation of the site. The aite ver vicited Ecych.Ler 10,1970, to obcerve the geologic ^ conditions at and B.
near the site.
The alte is in the Triassic Levland Section of the Piedmont physiocrat ic h
province,17 riles southeact of Pottstown, Pennsylvania. The plant to 1cceted Ii on a Ecatly slopiric bedroc*< hill above a bluff on the east side of the Schuylkill River. She altitude of the innd surface at the river is alcut 110 feet, and the altitude of the plant site rentes from about 200 to 200 feet. - crede in the i-area of the reactor buildinCs vill be ebout altitude 220 feet.
At the phnt site a vencer of residuni scil grades dovemrd into venthered bedrock. Together, the soil and veethered bedrock range in thickness up to about 20 feet.
The bedrock concists rain 1; of, red siltstone, tandstone, and A. -
shele of the Erunswick 7 creation of Triacsic *Cc.
A thin unit of gray shaic and argillite assiened to the Lecketent litheracies and a unit cf licht-cray sandstone esc!gned to the 1:crr.er Crcek lithofacies cre interbcdded with the Bruct"ick at the site. In the vestern prt of the site the Dcuningtca disbase dike, of probcble 1:ero.,cic ace, has been intruded alent the Canatogs fault.
The Brunswick For:..ction has been altered to a dcase "hornfels" in tones several tens of feet vide on either side of t'he dike.
According to the applicent, the r.njor facilities, includinC the reactor units, Will be founded on siltstcac and rer 'stene of the Brunswick Fctr.stien at depths of 35-45 fcet below the present ground surface. 3orin; lecs and test data indicete that the recks are cenerslly sound end vill provide sdequete support for the structures. The bedrock at the site is well jointed; t*cc joints are cainly vertical, and cc:ur in two predonicant systers which trend l-0 N30 E and fi00C.
The well-develc :ed Jc!ntinc :t.ny acessaitete minor =c,dificatiens of foundstion annica durins constructica c.ing to the tendency of the jcinted
'and f-a:tured re:ks to slay n(e.r cy.:svated rock fcces. Such ecdifications i
shculd *co vithin the liaits cf stoniard ani ntioriac ;ractice and do act i
appcer to present unusual ;r:blems.
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reveral frneture zonca hcyc bcen eccottntered in the 1 eihock in the e:tet.vations.
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for the dijor facilitiec inclu icc the reactu buildingt, the redvotte building,'
b and the unit 2 turbine (encrntor. Thecc fmturc scr.co traq.c jc vJdth from M,
2ess than one inch to 12 fcct. According to the spi licants, nmc of the lM sones precen'ts e hazard to the strue:turca; the zunec vill be treated by l
excavestion sed rhnploc to enforce the teorinc cresc of the foundations across i
the zones to clininnte ;oznibic differential ccttice.cnt betucen the fractured I
roche end the hop ecat firo ro:ks.
The afplicant should supply amps and dcocriptivo date en all fracturc zones encouctcred in the final foundation
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exenvutionc; en s't:n3ysis of rotentim) effects of the fracture zones on the structurcs; and a deteription of the final foundction construction necessary to secoewodnte the fracturc soncs.'
he Schuylkill River coolicC voter intehe, intche pipes, and pumping station vill bc found:0.on icdrek. T;.c epplim.t Lue indigtca that n t J thw puxp station the ceolinc voter pipes vill te laid in corpacted backfill which slo;on at e rute of 2 (horixental) to 1 (vertienl).
It would be prudent if thin piping vere laid in or supported on bedrock. However, the applicant has stated that the factor of safety of the backfill clope during the Dorico B
Basis Dirthquake vill be not loss than 2 5, consid:ricc the scil to be enturated.
The applicant states that, since tht: surroundin6 soil is stable, the pi;es can be considered to have adeguste support under Desien Basis Earthquehe conditions.
De Triassic strata at and near the site dip 8-20 degrees north. The north-northoust-trending SanatoCa fault, which passes throuth the vestcra part or the site, is indicated to be about 3 5 miles long, and to have about 350 feet of verticci displacerwat with the dc.vnthrown side en the east. The nearest approach of this fault to the reactor area is 1,300 feet to ibe vest. Ync Downincton dihe that vos intrpded clonc the fault is ssid to have not bacn
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disturbed by any pat-intrusion fau.1. ting. Scr.c inor faults with a fev inch:s to several fcet cf displaces.cnt have been ebeerved in the site src:,
d but thoce faults also are believed to be of the ss e general ace as the y.
Cec:te;.a fault. The cert.hcesterlptrcndinc Ercek Zvnns fault ; esses vithin j
2,000 fe:t southeast of the ;1:nt aren. This d'ault is indicated te te abc ut y,
3.$ r.ilen lon; e.adj south of the Schuylk.ill River, to te occupied by ;ert cf the Detaincten dik:; thus the fault is cf }rehble "erozoic arc. The fat *.t j
is (.ctmthrcvs te the scutherst with about 350 fect of vertical offset. Wo 7,
smilcr faults, the Linfic14 fault and encther necrty fault occuff ed by the Lir.ff eld dike, cecur about tvc railes tou.heast of the site and also are belicve.!
r to te cf Mesor.oic e,;e.
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Roricc311y, the site is in the southern art of the reverk structural basin which i s occu;ic.i r.ej nly by Triossic reckt. At the south act r.crth, the Ik mrk tesia is bounted b; cr;.stelline and sedir.catsry reeks :f Preca-trM ar.4 Neozcic aco that vere folded and faulted.in Fele: zoic tir.c. The Cbf #*
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p najor v.cpped fault of Pnicozoic rce is the trandyvine l'.anor fault wh2ch
'i.b ^ I approachec within obout, 9 niles couthcest of the site. The !!untincdon
$N Vaney-Crcat Valley fault and the related 11occeont fcult cf pro' bable Polcozoit f
aco app'rocch within about 17 niles. couth of the site.
The Triuscic rcd,s i
along the northern border of,Chelfont fcult in the southeastern part of the ti.e !!evork basin have been tilted and alco l
k diepinced alonc faults. The l
basin is the eleccct enjer fault cf 14csozoic ecc. Thic ecst-vest-trending l
t fault dispheca Triascie rochn and extends vcotvard from !!ev Jersey to within about 9 niico northouct of the site where it apparently dies out.
The fcults
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that displace Tr'cccic rocks in the Ikvork basin, including those at end near the site, cre concrany believed to be of 1.:csozoic oce and older than Cretaceous.
M Along the castern r.nrcin of the !!cvark bacin the Trinceic rockc are overhin by Coastcl Plain sedicents of Cretaceous ese which are not,knavn tc have beco displaced by faulto. A rajor, deep-seated, cett-vest vrench fcult, the Cornwnll-Kelvin fault. vns twntu1ntc6 bv D-sh6 and Voodvard UMO to extsitin
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f, the curvature of the ippninchian syctcm'in southeastern Penneylvar.in and'the f t/ -
Kelvin ocemount trend in the Atlantic Ocean. The applicant has statd that
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there are neither Ecoletical or ccophysicci boces for projecting this fault
'i tone into the continent, citing a diccunion by K1ng (1959). Drake and Woodward (1953, p. 56, fics, a and b) indicate that en (unna:::cd) esot-vest trending fault in the Triesci: rocks of the Pennsylvania lortion of the Fevark basin r.ny be a shallov expreenion of the Cornvall-Kelvin fault.
Apparently, the cast-vest-trendann fault is the Cholions feult, as described by the applicants. Drcke end Wooduard (1963, p. 58-59) indicate that the major move:r.ents on the postulated Cornvall-Kelvin fault took placc in Paleozoic j
tine. There are no koovn fault displacements in the Crn:.ccous and Tertiary j
sediments of the Coaotal Plains slons or near the projected trend of tho
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postulated faylt. 'Therefore, if the Cornva11-Kelvin fault or zone of faults exicts,.it is very ancient.
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1 Earthquakes of ingensity VII and less have occurred in historic time within 4
100 miles of the site. Sonc of these have occurred in the area of folded gj and faulted Taleozoic rocks northvcat of the !!evark basin, some neer the northvcst bordor fcults of the basin, sozo near the Fall Line at the enstcra edge of, the Pichont physiographic province, and ser.e in the Coastal Plain.
The encient ami relatively niner faults, such as the Ecestota, Brook Evans,
%gt, and Linfield faults', ne.r the site vould not be expected to localize seis ticity in the irs.cGicte vicir.ity of the site.
The applicant has concluded that the f
faults near the site are net related to the coolo61c structures south of the i
.Q basin on which the Vilningten, Delaware earthquake of 1871 (intensity VII M4)
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occurred, bat the applicent has ascu:r.ed conservatively that thcre is an extrenely remote possibility that an earthquake with an intensity similar to the Vilnington earthquake coul,4 occur close to.the site.
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Drake, C. I.., find IIcehrer.1, !!. P.,1953, Appi:ichir.n cureature, vrench frxitinc, tut errr.horo rtructtteen: Trans. licw Yer). Acad. G:icocco,12r. II, v. PS, sj f
pp. hil-63
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);ing, P. D., 459, 5.1:e tectonics of !! orth America -. a discuulc., t o t cewpany the tectonic r.rtp of 1: orth Ar. erica, scale 1:5,0X>,0CO:
U.S. Geol. Survey Prvr. Paper 623.
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REPORT ON THE SITE SEISMIC!'TY
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UNITS 1 AND 2 t
At the request of the Division of Reactor Licensing' of the Atomic Energy Cammission, the Seismology Division of the National Ocean Survey of the National Oceanic and - Atmospheric Administration (formerly. U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey of 9
the Environmental Science Services Adminini;rnHon) has eyel-usted the seismicity of the-area around the proposed Limerick
. Generating Station, Units 1 and 2 near Limerick, Pennsylvania.
hgt b-The Division also has reviewed a similar evaluation presented i
by the Philadelphia Electric Company in their Preliminary
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i Safety Analysis Report.
h A review of the seismic history indicates that this pro-posed site is located in La region that has experienced low to moderate earthquake activity, t
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The areas of major seismic corrideration consist of the 9
l Coastal Plain Province which has experienced infrequent in-f tensity VII earthquakes and is situated some 30 r,iles to the
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east of the proposed site and the Piedmont Province with a g
history of occasional intensity VI earthquakes in the I
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York area.
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It J r cancludd that F.u act5vity $n the vicinity of
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' Sini:ir.c Q r* nca tend ',I'11ke r,-Sa rre is a result of local condi-tions at therc tw cor=ur.itica und does not hnvc a potential g
for cccurrinc $n tha vicipity of the proposed site.
9-rp t gF, Zonen of n.ab r earthqv: hoc nuch on the St. Lawrence
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River rccion and the Neu i.*cdrid,.Mo. region are c' nsidered o
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,j to be too far frc:a this site to have an appreciable effect
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<;n the sci:=.ic evSlut t$ on.
f As utoted in the geology report of the U. S. Geological Survey, this cite is located "in the southern part of the Newark ntractural basin which is occupied oaf.nly by Triassic j
rocks."
The faultirq; describsd by the applicant and dis-Y, cussed in the Geological Survey report is of Paleozoic and 73 y
Mesozoic age.
h Since this site is situated in the Piedmont Provinct 4 '.,
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in the vicinity of the site.
Also, it is assurded that earth-quakes similar to the 1927 Long Branch event could occur in that portion of the Coastal Plain closest to the plant site n
(approy mately 30 miles).
As a result of this revicw of the seismological and geo-Y logical characteristics of this proposed bedrock site, the
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National Ocean Survey agrccc with the appliennt that an L ?F acceivration of 0,06 g, rc:.ulting from an intennity VI (IF) up earthqur.ka, is adc quate -for re;.re acntinE the. errthquake dis-turbance likely.to occur v! thin the lifctime of.the facility.
The Survey alac. c6rces that in ecce3cratien of 0.12 g, result-l ing from an intensity VII earthquake, is adequcte for repre-sentin6 the ground motion from the nnximum earthquake likely to affect the site.
It iu 'uel1G'ad that thenc valuce neuld provide an adequate basis for designing protection against g
the loss of function of conponento :.mportant to' safety.
National Ocean Survey Rockville, Maryland 20852 k
June 30, 1971 N
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