Seismic Design And Qualification For Nuclear Power Plants

This Safety Guide provides recommendations on a generally accepted way to design a nuclear power plant so that an earthquake motion at the site will not jeopardize the safety of the plant. It also gives guidance on a consistent application of methods and procedures for analysis, testing and qualification of structures and equipment so that they meet the safety requirements covering the design of nuclear power plants, safety assessments for the design and the regulatory issues concerned with the licensing of plants.

This guide was originally issued as Safety Guide No. 50-SG-S2. It provides details on the design of a nuclear power plant such that earthquakes at the site determined according to Safety Guide No. 50-SG-S1 will not jeopardize its safety.

A systematic and comprehensive introduction of seismic risk analysis of critical engineering structures, focusing on nuclear power plants.

This Safety Guide provides recommendations on how to meet the applicable safety requirements in relation to the design aspects of new nuclear installations subjected to seismic hazard. These recommendations focus on the consistent application of methods and procedures, in accordance with best practice, for seismic analysis, design, testing and qualification of structures, systems and components. New recommendations include applications of seismic isolation systems, the seismic margin to be achieved by the design and application of the graded approach. This Safety Guide is intended for use by organizations involved in the seismic design of nuclear installations, in analysis, verification and review, and in the provision of technical support, as well as by regulatory bodies.

The development of protective measures to guard against the spread of radioactive debris following reactor disasters has been given extensive and careful engineering attention over the past several years. Much of this attention has been devoted to eliminating or minimizing the effects of malfunctions of internal components. But reactors can also suffer externally caused disasters—for example, their radioactive cores can be damaged by earthquakes or by missiles generated by tornadoes. Earthquakes in particular will continue to render man vulnerable even to the "peaceful atom" as the number of nuclear power plants increases and as they come to be located in those parts of the world that have a history of seismic activity. It was to consider such problems that the seminar reported here was held. The conferees, who are leaders in this special and important field, gathered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in spring 1969, to present the papers whose titles are listed below. Together they cover both the theoretical underpinnings of the subject and specific applications to nuclear reactors; they provide both useful summaries of what is known to date and some new thinking on the subject, not before published. Contents: Preface—T. J. Thompson. Foreword—R. J. Hansen. Introduction—R. V. Whitman. Geological and Seismological Factors Influencing the Assessment of a Seismic Threat to Nuclear Reactors—Daniel Linehan, S. J. Geophysics—Keiiti Aki. Design Seismic Inputs—C. Allin Cornell. Some Observations on Probabilistic Methods in the Seismic Design of Nuclear Power Plants—C. Allin Cornell. Seismic Risk and Seismic Design Decisions—Luis Esteva. Fundamentals of Soil Amplification—J. M. Roesset. Soil Structure Interaction—R. V. Whitman. Evaluation of Soil Properties for Site Evaluation and Dynamic Analysis of Nuclear Plants—R. V. Whitman. Structural Response to Seismic Input—J. M. Biggs. Seismic Analysis of Equipment Mounted on a Massive Structure—J. M. Biggs and J. M. Roesset. Modal Response of Containment Structures—Peter Jan Pahl. Provision of Required Seismic Resistance—M. J. Holley, Jr. A Measure of Earthquake Intensity—Arturo Arias. Closure—R. J. Hansen.