Extreme earthquake response of nuclear power plants isolated using sliding bearings

Horizontal seismic isolation is a viable approach to mitigate risk to structures, systems and components (SSCs) in nuclear power plants (NPPs) under extreme ground shaking. This paper presents a study on an NPP seismically isolated using single concave Friction Pendulum™ (FP) bearings subjected to ground motions representing seismic hazard at two US sites: Diablo Canyon and Vogtle. Two models of the NPP, five models to describe friction at the sliding surface of the FP bearings, and four levels of ground shaking are considered for response-history analysis, which provide insight into the influence of 1) the required level of detail of an NPP model, 2) the vertical component of ground motion on response of isolated NPPs, and 3) the pressure-, temperature- and/or velocity-dependencies of the coefficient of friction, on the response of an isolated NPP. The isolation-system displacement of an NPP can be estimated using a macro model subjected to only the two orthogonal horizontal components of ground motion. The variation of the coefficient of friction with temperature at the sliding surface during earthquake shaking should be accounted for in the calculation of isolation-system displacements, particularly when the shaking intensity is high; pressure and velocity dependencies are not important. In-structure floor spectra should be computed using a detailed three-dimensional model of an isolated NPP subjected to all three components of ground motion.