Exposure Panel Program 



Introduction 



The Exposure Panel Program was designed to 

 determine what effect the operation of Millstone 

 Nuclear Power Station (MNPS) has on the abun- 

 dance and distribution of marine woodborers, and 

 the rate of wood degradation in the marine 

 ecosystem of Long Island Sound (LIS). Two 

 groups of marine woodborers are common in 

 these waters. The first group consists of small 

 crustaceans, isopods {Limnoria spp.) and 

 amphipods {Chelura terebrans), which make shal- 

 low tunnels and excavations in the surfaces of 

 submerged wood. The second group consists of 

 the more destructive shipworms Teredo navaUs 

 and Teredo bartschi, wliich are molluscs that pen- 

 etrate the surface of wood as larvae (pediveligers) 

 prior to metamorphosing into their adult, worm- 

 like form. Woodborers are very important eco- 

 logically because they decompose wood entering 

 estuarine, coastal and deep ocean areas (Turner 

 1984). However, they also cause destruction of 

 man-made structures. 



Particular attention has been paid in recent 

 years to the response of woodborer populations 

 exposed to heated effluents from power plants, 

 because elevated temperatures may increase 

 growth, reproduction, and sur\'ival of woodborers, 

 all of which contribute to accelerated destruction 

 of wooden structures (Naylor 1965; Turner 1973; 

 Iloagland 1981). These effects were seen near 

 Jersey Central Power and I ,ight Company's Oyster 

 Creek Nuclear Generating Station, where destruc- 

 tion of docks at nearby marinas was attributed to 

 increased woodborer activity in the effluent 

 (Turner 1973; Hoagland and Turner 1980; 

 Macieolek-Blake et al. 1981). The objectives of 

 the MNPS Exposure Panel Program are: 



1. to monitor the abundance of marine 

 woodborers at five sites in the Millstone 

 Point area, 



2. to quantify the loss of wood associated with 

 the presence of woodborer populations in the 

 vicinity of MNPS, 



3. to monitor the dispersal of Teredo barlschi 

 in terms of distance from the Millstone 

 Quarry, and, 



4. to monitor the abundance of prevalent fouling 

 organisms, and to investigate their relation- 

 ship to woodborer abundances in the Mill- 

 stone Point area. 



To achieve these objectives, three separate stud- 

 ies were conducted. The first (Exposure Panel 

 Study) used exposure panels to monitor the abun- 

 dance of fouling and wood-boring species, as well 

 as the associated wood-loss. The second study 

 (Distribution Study) used exposure panels de- 

 ployed in close proximity to the MNPS discharge 

 to monitor the density of Teredo navalis and 

 Teredo barlschi relative to the distance from the 

 thermal discharge. The third study (Timber 

 Study) used commonly available dock building 

 materials to quantify wood-loss. 



Development of these studies, and results prior 

 to 3-unit operation (1968-1986), are summarized 

 in NUS(X) (1987). This report represents an 

 initial assessment of the effects of 3-unit operation 

 on marine woodborers, based on results from the 

 Exposure Panel Study and the Distribution Study. 

 Results from the Timber Study will be presented 

 in a future report, scheduled for 1989. 



Exposure Panel Program 227 



