Abstract
Abstract. The results of the study aimed to assess the influence of future nuclear power plant Hanhikivi-1 upon the local thermal conditions in the Bothnian Bay in the Baltic Sea are presented. A number of experiments with different numerical models were also carried out in order to estimate the extreme hydro-meteorological conditions in the area of the construction. The numerical experiments were fulfilled both with analytically specified external forcing and with real external forcing for 2 years: a cold year (2010) and a warm year (2014). The study has shown that the extreme values of sea level and water temperature and the characteristics of wind waves and sea ice in the vicinity of the future nuclear power plant can be significant and sometimes catastrophic. Permanent release of heat into the marine environment from an operating nuclear power plant will lead to a strong increase in temperature and the disappearance of ice cover within a 2 km vicinity of the station. These effects should be taken into account when assessing local climate changes in the future.
Highlights
In recent decades the use of nuclear energy has been extended to a large scale
During the construction of these power plants, it is absolutely necessary to carry out a preliminary examination, including the assessment of risks associated with extreme natural conditions that may lead to technogenic disasters, as recently happened at the Japanese nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Fukushima, which was damaged during the earthquake and subsequent tsunami
The present study focuses on the Bothnian Bay and the relatively small area off the Hanhikivi peninsula located at the eastern coast of the Bothnian Bay (Fig. 2)
Summary
New nuclear power plants (NPPs) are designed and constructed, including those situated on the shores of seas and oceans, which provides free access to water needed for cooling processes, as discussed in Rubbelke and Vogele (2010). During the construction of these power plants, it is absolutely necessary to carry out a preliminary examination, including the assessment of risks associated with extreme natural conditions that may lead to technogenic disasters, as recently happened at the Japanese NPP in Fukushima, which was damaged during the earthquake and subsequent tsunami (see Acton and Hibbs, 2012; Buesseler et al, 2011; Srinivasan and Gopi Rethinaraj, 2013). In contrast to the first problem, which has been studied extensively in meteorology and oceanography in recent decades, researches on EIA methods, especially for the marine environment in the case of existing and planned NPPs operating in a regular
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