SITE CHARACTERISTICS: Vulnerabilities, Opportunities, and Strategies for Managing Sea-Level Rise Risk to Humboldt Bay’s Spent Nuclear Fuel Site
Publication Date
Spring 1-7-2022
Publisher
Report Submitted to California Sea Grant and CSU COAST in Fulfillment of Grant Agreement
Abstract
This document provides a foundational background on the Humboldt Bay Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (“ISFSI”), located on Buhne Point in Humboldt County, CA. The purpose of this document is to inform scenario planning workshops scheduled for Summer 2022 focused on sea level rise vulnerability to the ISFSI in light of considerable future uncertainties, including the uncertain timeline around which the federal government will assume title to the spent fuel and provide storage at interim or permanent federal repositories. (Macfarlane and Ewing, eds., 2006.) This document provides an overview of current knowledge on the topic. It is a survey that references multiple documents that provide a more comprehensive and in-depth assessment of potential site vulnerabilities, and is intended to be considered alongside and not wholly independent from research completed thus far, as well as research yet to come. Part I profiles relevant ISFSI site and spent nuclear fuel characteristics. Part II describes sea level change projections for Humboldt Bay and identifies present and potential future risks to the ISFSI site from sea level change. Part III describes other natural hazards or biophysical risks to the ISFSI site that may be further compounded by projected sea level rise. And Part IV concludes by issuing recommendations for preparedness, adaptation, and hazard mitigation efforts that can be taken now to avoid disasters resulting from no action, and to support ongoing initiatives to protect the resilience of Humboldt Bay’s tribes, communities, ecosystems, and economies to sea level rise and other climatic changes.