Document: NUREG-0800
Document ID: fc11b179-5899-46ec-9add-723cad9f6565
Document Type: srp
Title: PROBABLE MAXIMUM SURGE AND SEICHE FLOODING
Source: NUREG-0800
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML0707/ML070730425.pdf
Revision Date: 2023-06
Chapter: 2
Section ID: 2.4.5
CFR Part: 
CFR Title: 

Content:
ate an applicant’s analysis of the PMH near the site, as described by NOAA National Weather Service Report 23 for the U.S. Gulf and East coasts. A PMH is specified in terms of several meteorological parameters that vary with location: central pressure, peripheral pressure, radius of maximum winds, forward speed, track direction, and inflow angle. Methods for estimating these parameters for the PMH are described in NOAA NWS Report 23. Detailed descriptions of bottom profiles are used in the staff’s independent estimate of surge levels. Models used to estimate surge hydrographs should have been previously peer-reviewed and published in the relevant technical literature. Ambient water levels, including tides and sea level anomalies, are estimated using NOAA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and other publications. Data from publications of NOAA, USACE, and other sources (such as tide tables, tide records, and historical lake level records) are used to substantiate antecedent water levels. These antecedent water levels should be as high as the “10% exceedence” monthly spring high tide, plus a sea level anomaly based on the maximum difference between recorded and predicted average water levels for durations of 2 weeks or longer for coastal locations or the 100-yr recurrence interval high water for the Great Lakes. Instead of an independent analysis, the staff’s review may verify an applicant’s assumptions and methodologies or may require consultation with State and Federal agencies that have the authority and the responsibility to carry out similar analyses in the vicinity of the site. 2. Probable Maximum Wind Storm. The approaches and criteria for development of probable maximum hurricanes for east and Gulf Coast sites, squall lines for the Great Lakes, and severe cyclonic wind storms for all lake sites followed by USACE, NOAA, other state and federal agencies, and the staff are used for evaluating the conservatism of the applicant’s estimates of