Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

There is a need for rapid access to information on earthquake ground shaking and its potential effects immediately after the occurrence of any significant earthquake that is felt at Ontario's nuclear power plants. This need has been brought to public awareness by the devastating 2011 M9 Tohoku Japan earthquake and, to a much lesser extent, by moderate regional earthquakes in eastern Canada, such as the 2010 M5 earthquake near Ottawa. Nuclear utilities need to be able to determine the motions that a plant has experienced within minutes of the earthquake's occurrence, so that appropriate steps can be taken to assess the situation and determine what action, if any, is required. In the event of very strong shaking the plant would shut down automatically. However, in the event of ""felt shaking"", the utility must be able to determine how the level of shaking compares to the design basis and capacity of the plant and assess whether a shutdown for inspection is required. It is important to avoid unnecessary shutdowns, because a shutdown, inspection and restart costs millions of dollars. It is also important to have this information quickly so that the utility can provide timely information to the public and regulatory authorities. In this project, we take advantage of the real-time seismographic data provided by the Southern Ontario Seismographic Network, operated for Ontario Power Generation (OPG) by the University of Western Ontario, to develop real-time data tools for earthquake hazard management. We will develop web-based algorithms that allow OPG to obtain processed and instrument-corrected evaluations of the shaking at Pickering, Darlington and Bruce, Ontario within minutes of the occurrence of any regional earthquakes strong enough to be felt (about M3 and greater). Shaking estimates and potential effects throughout southern Ontario will also be mapped and made available via a web interface to inform other users, including other businesses and emergency management agencies. The data products will be integrated into rapid analysis procedures to aid in the management of seismic hazards in Ontario.