CHAPTER 3 - THE WASHINGTON PUBLIC POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM NUCLEAR SITING STUDY

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter illustrates the decision analysis approach to siting of energy facilities. The specific problem involves a potential nuclear power facility in the state of Washington. The chapter discusses a study conducted by Woodward–Clyde Consultants in 1975, which is one of the first studies that explicitly contained each of the five steps of decision analysis for the siting of an energy facility. The region of interest consisted of approximately 170,000 square miles, including the entire state of Washington, the basins of major rivers in Oregon and Idaho that flow into Washington Rivers, and the major river basins of the Oregon coast. As the purpose of the study was to find new sites, all areas within a 10-mile radius of the ERDA-Hanford reservation and other site areas for which electric generating facilities were formally proposed or were under development were excluded. The results of the ranking process indicated that six of the nine candidate sites were superior to the other three under all reasonable variations of the preference structure and assessed consequences. The six sites include the Lewis sites, Grays Harbor, Linn, and Wahkiakum. Considering both rankings, the three sites recommended for detailed site-specific evaluation were Lewis 1, Lewis 2, and Linn. If liquefaction potential was studied first and found not to exist at Grays Harbor and Lewis 3, the three sites recommended for site-specific studies were Lewis 2, Lewis 3, and Grays Harbor.