Value chain · CLM-1167
In plain terms
For the launches the 1978 assessment could only line up the rulebook - allowed minutes of rocket exhaust gases for the public, the EPA's day and night noise levels, the blast reach of a launcher twice as explosive as a Saturn V - and note that several launches a day would probably break the noise rule.
The claim as recorded
For launch operations the 1978 preliminary assessment had limits but no SPS numbers: the NAS/NRC Committee on Toxicology's launch-pollutant limits, "a short-term public limit (STPL) designed to avoid respiratory irritation and a public emergency limit (PEL) related to accident conditions", tabulated at 10, 30 and 60 minutes as hydrogen chloride 4 (7), 2 (3), 2 (3) ppm, carbon monoxide 90 (275), 35 (100), 25 (60), chlorine 1 (3), .5 (2), .5 (2), nitrogen oxides 1 (5), 1 (3), 1 (2), hydrazine 15 (30), 10 (20), 5 (10) and monomethylhydrazine 9 (90), 3 (30), 1.5 (15), while the ground-cloud model "has not yet been used for the SPS"; noise against the EPA's "70 db(A) daytime guideline and its 50 dB(A) nighttime guideline", where HLLV levels "are greater than those of the Saturn V" and with "several launches per day, it appears that the EPA guidelines may be exceeded by the SPS launching program"; and "The explosive potential of the HLLV is about twice that of a Saturn V", a pad explosion able to reach Titusville with an overpressure that "might cause injury by blowing out windows and doors".
Evidence behind this: T3-programme summary of NAS/NRC limit values and Saturn V comparisons; the limits are the committee's (T1 in their instrument, not held), the comparisons qualitative.
Scope and limits
NO SPS EMISSION, NOISE OR ACCIDENT FIGURE IS COMPUTED; the ground-cloud model was not run, Fig. 2.6's HLLV sound levels are a profile without an A-weighted result, and the Titusville case is qualitative. The pollutant limits are for a public exposed to a ground cloud, not an emissions inventory.
What it assumes
The NAS/NRC values as the figure prints them; the HLLV as the 1978 reference launcher.
Where it comes from
PDF 16 / printed 14: "The model has not yet been used for the SPS" (raw); "has recommended concentration limits for launch-related air pollutants (see Fig. 2.4) that include a short-term public limit (STPL) designed to avoid respiratory irritation and a public emergency limit (PEL) related to accident conditions" (normalised). PDF 17 / printed 15, Fig. 2.4 (render read): the values as listed in the claim, "SHORT TERM LIMIT (EMERGENCY LIMIT) ppm" (render reading); "uses a 24-hour weighted average for its 70 db(A) daytime guideline and its 50 dB(A) nighttime guideline" (normalised). PDF 18 / printed 16: "sound pressure levels of the HLLV are greater than those of the Saturn V used" (raw); "and that there would be several launches per day, it appears that the EPA guidelines may be exceeded by the SPS launching program" (normalised). PDF 19 / printed 17: "The explosive potential of the HLLV is about twice that of a Saturn V" (normalised); "could cause Titusville, the nearest city, to experience an overpressure that would not result in structural failure but might cause injury by blowing out windows and doors" (normalised). Recomputed: the 10-minute emergency limits exceed the short-term ones by 1.75 (HCl) to 10 (monomethylhydrazine).
Basis: ppm short-term and emergency public limits at 10, 30 and 60 minutes; dB(A) 24-hour guidelines; explosive potential relative to Saturn V
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-1167
CLM-1167, Energy Aperture, as of 1978-10.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.
- Also from SRC-500
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