GIS Studies for New Nuclear Power Plants in the Mid-Atlantic Region

AKRF was retained by Sargent & Lundy (S&L) to perform a site evaluation study for potential nuclear power plant sites in New Jersey, northern Delaware, and eastern Pennsylvania. The evaluation of alternative site locations is a prerequisite to the submittal of requests to various state and federal regulatory agencies for the development of new nuclear power facilities.

To conduct the study, AKRF performed specific tasks, including:

• Compiling and integrating geospatial data from disparate sources for the multi-state study area
• Developing and applying exclusionary criteria to screen out areas inappropriate for industrial development, and compiling additional, more detailed local-scale data to further refine preferred siting areas
• Designing and producing 1:24,000 scale maps at each step of the project for client review
• Providing data documentation and maintaining close consultation with the client throughout the project. 

The geospatial database developed for the project included environmental, hydrologic, air quality, topographic, transportation, infrastructure, demographic, cultural/historic, community facility, and land use datasets, and aerial photography, which were combined and symbolized legibly on more than 75 large-format maps.

AKRF’s local knowledge of the study region, our familiarity with data sources and regulatory programs, and our understanding of the environmental conditions within the study area were critical to completing the study within a limited budget and tight schedule constraints.