Revista de ciencia de la energía nuclear y tecnología de generación de energía

Environmental Hydrogeological Conditions of a Nuclear Power Plant Site in Egypt

Abdel Moneim AA, Farrag AF and Abudeif AM and Seleem EM

The study area is located on the North Western Coast of the Mediterranean Sea which has been selected for establishing a nuclear power plant in Egypt. In this study, the hydrogeological conditions of the site are discussed and evaluated, based on the field survey of soil boring, the piezometers data and the chemical analysis of groundwater samples. The Quaternary aquifer is the main water-bearing layers in the studied area and it is mainly composed of ooltic limestone. Based on the collected geological and hydrogeological data from 18 mointoring wells encountered the Quaternary aquifer with a depth down to 30 m, groundwater fluctuations and groundwater flow maps were constructed. From the records, it is observed that, the groundwater level rises about 2 cm per year. Thus, there is no risk of plant site flooding from increasing groundwater levels, as the thickness of the aeration zone is more than 12 meters. The general groundwater flow in the area of study is from north to south following the main recharge source presneted by the sea water. The depth to water in the area ranges between 2 to 24 meters and it is increasing towards the south. Eighteen water samples are gathered from the available eighteen monitoring wells. The average total salinity ranges from 17193 ppm to 36800 ppm (very saline water) and the pH values vary from 7.5 to 8.5, reflecting slightly alkaline water. The groundwater was classified as mainly saline water, while few samples show a meteoric origin, based on Sulin’s graph. This meteoric water originates from the scares rain events. The evaluation of groundwater shows that, it’s not suitable for irrigation purposes.