Program of Geodynamic Investigation for the Site of a New Nuclear Power Plant in Hungary

Abstract:

Preparation of a new nuclear power plant project is going on in Hungary at Paks site. Although there is an operating plant at the site, comprehensive geological, geophysical investigation has to be implemented in accordance with Hungarian nuclear safety regulation and international norms for confirming the site acceptability and providing a neotectonic basis for site seismic hazard assessment. The scope, techniques and methods of investigations have to be adapted to the geotectonic environment of the site and Pannonian Basin as a whole. The poster presents a brief summary of the program and provides a detailed description of the seismic survey focusing on the 3D subsurface imaging that is the most important task of planned geophysical investigations.

The 3D geophysical imaging provides essential geodynamic information to assess the capability of near site faults and for the seismic hazard analysis, as well as for the hydrogeological modeling. The planned seismic survey gives a unique dataset for understanding the spatial relationship between individual fault segments. The 3D survey allows predicting and characterization of deformations induced by recent lithospheric stresses that is crucial for assessing the tectonic stability of the area. 3D seismic survey has to be combined with appropriate 2D and 3D shallow seismic profiling. The obtained 3D seismic data are also used for numerical geodynamic modeling. Rheology of rocks fundamentally influences the frequency of seismic activity, i.e. the accumulation and release of seismic energy. Regarding this the Pannonian Basin has specific features: the crust is thin and thermal gradients are high. This implies the whole lithosphere can be considered rheologically weak and its behavior is mostly plastic. It is suspected that most of the fault zones in the Pannonian basin are restricted to the sedimentary fill and the uppermost crust, and rest of the lithosphere experiences aseismic deformation.