Flood Hazards from Impoundment Failure in Nuclear Power Plant Sites

As part of the Combined License or Early Site Permit application process for new nuclear power facilities in the US, detailed flood hazard evaluations are required to support the site safety analysis report. Dam failures are one of the flooding events that have to be considered in accordance with the nuclear regulatory requirements. The dams and impoundment facilities postulated to fail could be located on site or upstream of the site. This paper discusses the modeling approaches and methods used in analyzing the flooding resulting from the failure of water impoundment facilities onsite or near the site. In particular, the antecedent conditions, the solution methods and boundary conditions of a 2-dimensional breach model are discussed.