1. The Role of Meteorology in the Nuclear Power Industry
Presented at the 15th Annual RETS-REMP Workshop
June 27-29, Wilmington, NC
Theodore A. Messier, Meteorologist
Framatome ANP
Good Morning!
I’m Ted Messier of Framatome ANP.
I’m a meteorologist with 16 years experience in the nuclear power industry.
Today I’m going to talk with you about the role that meteorology plays in our industry and some issues I’ve seen over the past few years.

2. What role does meteorology play in our industry?
Site acceptability studies
Doses to the public from routine effluent releases
Emergency response
Control Room habitability (radiological and
chemical)
Design engineering (statistics)
Anyone under the age of 35 out there? If so, you may not understand the first item on the list. A study is required to show that a proposed location passes muster as a building site for a nuclear power station and meteorological information is part of that process. JFD tables, wind roses, statistics…
RETS! Need met data to determine doses from gaseous effluents. WS, WD, DT
Need real-time met data for dose assessment and plume tracking.
Met data is used in determining CRH.
Wind speed and temperature statistics are used in design space; e.g., HVAC.
METEOROLOGY IS IMPORTANT!

3. What regulatory guidance is available?
NRC Safety Guide 23/Regulatory Guide 1.23
Regulatory Guide 1.21
Regulatory Guide 1.78
Regulatory Guide 1.111
Regulatory Guide 1.145
Regulatory Guide 1.183
Regulatory Guide 1.194
ANSI/ANS
EPA QA Handbook
SG 23/RG 1.23: Provides guidance on the met monitoring program – siting, which parameters to measure, data recording, accuracy, maintenance, documentation…This document says 90% annual data recovery goal.
RG 1.21: “A knowledge of meteorological conditions in the vicinity of the nuclear plant is essential to make valid estimates of maximum potential annual radiation doses resulting from radioactive materials released in gaseous effluents.” Stipulates that a summary report in the form of JFD tables should be submitted with the plant effluent report. Has an example JFD table and an incorrect delta-T/stability table.
RG 1.78: CRH due to toxic chemicals. HABIT code. Stipulates use of the 5% CHI/Q (exceeded only 5% of the time).

4. What regulatory guidance is available?
NRC Safety Guide 23/Regulatory Guide 1.23
Regulatory Guide 1.21
Regulatory Guide 1.78
Regulatory Guide 1.111
Regulatory Guide 1.145
Regulatory Guide 1.183
Regulatory Guide 1.194
ANSI/ANS
EPA QA Handbook
RG 1.111: Guidance on atmospheric dispersion for normal releases. It defines an elevated release point as being more than twice the height of adjacent solid structures.
RG 1.145: Guidance on atmospheric dispersion for accident analyses. Stipulates the use of the minimum distance from the stack, or in the case of releases through vents or building penetrations, the nearest point on the building, to the receptor location within a 45-degree sector centered on the compass direction of interest. It defines an elevated release point as being at a level that is at least two and one-half times the height of adjacent solid structures.
RG 1.183: AST. Stipulates which CHI/Q’s for the EAB, LPZ, and CR may be used when performing analyses in the guide. Mentions the NRC codes PAVAN and ARCON96.

5. What regulatory guidance is available?
NRC Safety Guide 23/Regulatory Guide 1.23
Regulatory Guide 1.21
Regulatory Guide 1.78
Regulatory Guide 1.111
Regulatory Guide 1.145
Regulatory Guide 1.183
Regulatory Guide 1.194
ANSI/ANS
EPA QA Handbook
RG 1.194: CRH analyses for radiological releases. ARCON96 code. Stipulates that the met data used should be obtained from an onsite met measurement program based on guidance of SG 23 that includes QA provisions consistent with Appendix B of 10 CFR Part 50.
ANSI/ANS : The document exists due to the interest and perseverance of NUMUG – and I thank you for that. Addresses life cycle issues, tech advances for in situ and remote sensing of the atmosphere. Not on the CD! Can buy from ANS.
EPA QA Handbook: Provides information and guidance for both the meteorologist and non-meteorologist tasked with making judgments on the validity and accuracy of met systems.
BY THE WAY, FREE CD’S WITH THESE REGS IN PDF FORMAT AT THE FANP BOOTH!

6. What issues have been seen recently?
No ownership of the program
Conflicting procedural requirements
Loss of experienced personnel
Data manipulation errors
Outdated/unsupported software
Ownership: A multi-unit site had different groups using the met data for their own purposes, operating under different procedures with little to no communication between them. I&C procedures led to conflicts between the groups. Calibration madness!
Personnel: One licensee lost their meteorologist and didn’t capture his knowledge – the result was the met program degraded. They didn’t fully realize the situation until one of their submittals to the NRC generated RAI’s.
Errors: Simple errors can cause sometimes drastic changes in the met data. Delta-T sign reversal example. Wind direction – 0 to 540 vs. 0 to Unit conversions and format changes.
Software: Lack of pedigree (documentation, code control) and/or no longer supported by vendor.

7. Solutions
Insure that someone owns the meteorological monitoring system
If in doubt about your program, have an outside expert perform an audit
Capture the experience of personnel that are leaving the organization
Vigorously check meteorological data manipulations, unit conversions, and format changes
Insure that your people have the right tools
Ownership: Someone must have overall responsibility for the met monitoring program. Think about what that met data gets used for. Annual effluent reports, emergency response, design basis accident analyses. A real pay-me-now or pay-me-later situation.
Doubts: If the program has degraded, or even if you just fear that it has, give yourself a solid baseline by having an audit performed. It’s money well spent.
Personnel: Easy to say, hard to do. But well worth your attempt!
Errors: There are a few things to remember regarding met data. Wind direction has a continuous range (circle) but a discontinuous sensor output (say 0 to 5 volts). Delta-T is always upper minus lower.
Tools: Considering what met data gets used for, it really is worth making sure that you’ve got the right tools to work with the data.

8. Introducing MetData FANP’s response to the issues we’ve seen recently
PC/Windows based software
Intended to help both meteorologists and non-meteorologists in maintaining high quality meteorological data
Data storage, checking, editing, JFD tables, atmospheric dispersion factors, data reformatting all in one application

9. MetData
Data checking module produces a report with an explanation of why the data were considered suspect and suggestions of how to check data validity
Data may be flagged by the user as “BAD” with the click of the mouse
Data editing report shows changes on a line-by-line basis

10. MetData
Helps you meet regulatory requirements by producing annual meteorological data summaries in the form of joint frequency distribution tables of wind speed and direction as a function of atmospheric stability
Produces atmospheric dispersion factors for routine effluent releases
These factors can be used to rank locations in the annual Land Use Census
Reformats your meteorological data for use with the NRC computer code ARCON96
Questions?