Recent Seismic Risk Studies of Nuclear Power Plants: An Overview

by Mayasandra K. Ravindra, EQE Engineering Inc, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Structural Safety and Reliability

Abstract:

Seismic probabilistic risk assessments (PRA) are conducted to estimate the frequencies of occurrence of severe core damage, serious radiological releases, and consequences in terms of early fatalities, long term adverse health effects and property damage, and to identify significant contributors to plant risks so that review and upgrading may focus on them. This paper provides an overview of the seismic PRA methodology, describes some of the recent PRA applications and discusses the role of structural and geotechnical engineers in the nuclear power plant PRA. It discusses the seismic safety issues that a PRA can address, the available data/models and the limitations. It also highlights the methodlogical differences in the system-reliability analysis conducted by the seismic PRA analysis and the structural system reliability analysts.

Subject Headings: System reliability | Seismic tests | Seismic effects | Power plants | Risk management | Structural reliability | Structural analysis

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