Suitability of an area in the New York Bight for offshore nuclear power plant siting

An evaluation is made of the marine environmental considerations affecting the siting of offshore nuclear power facilities in an 800 square mile area in New York Bight. An oceanographic sampling program was conducted between November 1973 and October 1974, in a region heavily used for transportation, recreation, and ocean dumping. Concurrent physical, chemical and biological measurements were made monthly at 6 to 9 stations from shipboard. Vertical profiles of currents, salinity, temperature and density were obtained with sets of automatic profiling instruments which recorded data at one to five minute intervals for as long as a month at a time. The data generally confirm the results of previous studies of the area but provide new information on the distribution of chemical constituents and on phytoplankton segregated by size fractions. Distinct geographical differences were discerned even in the well mixed winter conditions, representing the influence of the Hedson River, nearby ocean dumping areas, and inlets to adjacent protected bays. Tidal variations in the currents are generally described by an elliptical pattern with the major axis paralleling the coast, but strong winds can overcome the tidal forces, driving the water downwind generally with a set to the the right. Temperature and salinity at depth were spectrally analyzed to determine dominant frequencies and the corresponding amplitudes. Stratification is apparent from April 1974 to September 1974. Despite extreme hydrological variability, all biological communities followed a well-defined seasonal succession. These were significant geographical differences in the biological communities with perceptible anomalies in the vicinity of the offshore dump sites but no areas of low productivity. Evaluations are made of the environmental effects of various offshore power plant locations including dispersion of the thermal plume, biological effects of increased temperature, bottom scour and littoral drift.