Document: NUREG-0800
Document ID: 3a64837e-1633-463f-a4a7-e8657d177b48
Document Type: srp
Title: PROBABLE MAXIMUM TSUNAMI HAZARDS
Source: NUREG-0800
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML0701/ML070160659.pdf
Revision Date: 2023-06
Chapter: 2
Section ID: 2.4.6
CFR Part: 
CFR Title: 

Content:
I. 1. Historical Tsunami Data. The staff reviews historical tsunami data, including paleotsunami data, to determine the vulnerability of a proposed site to this phenomenon. Historical data may help in establishing the frequency of occurrence and other useful indicators such as the maximum observed runup height. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) collects and archives information on tsunami sources and effects to support tsunami modeling and engineering. The NGDC database contains historical as well as paleotsunami data. The NGDC data, relevant to the proposed plant site, should be used to describe the history of tsunamis at the site. Paleotsunami data should also be included in this description. Other sources of historical data, especially international sources that are relevant for proposed plant sites exposed to far-field trans- oceanic tsunamis, should also be investigated. The staff reviews the historical and paleotsunami data for their completeness and relevance to the proposed plant site. 2. Probable Maximum Tsunami. The staff reviews the PMT with respect to the source mechanisms, the characteristics of these source mechanisms, and the simulation of the wave propagating towards the proposed plant site. A regional assessment of tsunamigenic sources should be carried out to determine the sources that may generate a PMT at the proposed plant site. The source mechanisms considered in this assessment should include earthquakes, submarine and subaerial landslides, and volcanoes. The characteristics of the sources that are used for the specification of the PMT should be conservative, e.g., supplemented by a larger regional or global earthquake size distribution to account for the limited period of historical records. The landslide sources should be characterized using the maximum volume parameter determined from seafloor mappings or geologic age dating of the historical landslides. A slope-stability