2017 Pacific Rim Forum: Earthquake Resilience of Nuclear Facilities

On January 23 & 24, 2017, PEER hosted the latest in a series of Pacific Rim Forums focusing on the critical issue of earthquake resilience of nuclear facilities. Nuclear facilities associated with power generation, nuclear materials processing and storage, and nuclear experimental science require the utmost attention with regard to facility resilience and safety.

Around the Pacific Rim, large earthquakes are a major design issue for nuclear facilities and advanced approaches for seismic analysis and design are essential to achieving appropriate levels of risk.

The Pacific Rim Forum on the Earthquake Resilience of Nuclear Facilities is intended to bring together the research and practitioner communities to share recent developments in advancing earthquake hazard and risk assessments, to provide focused discussion on timely challenges facing the nuclear enterprise, and to discuss the societal importance of a breadth of nuclear facilities. The Forum event was hosted in collaboration with the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, US Department of Energy, American Association of Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology (AASMiRT), Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF), and Pacific Gas & Electric Company.

PEER participants joined other invited international experts and leaders from around the Pacific Rim and Europe, from a broad cross-section of academic institutions, national laboratories, commercial sector entities, and governmental agencies. The topics for the Pacific Rim Forum 2017 are outlined below, with the intent of continuing the excellent dialog and technical exchanges that were generated by the very successful Pacific Rim Forum of 2015.

International perspectives were presented by:

Hirobumi Kayama, Special Advisor to the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry (METI), Japan
Garrett Smith, Acting Director, DOE Office of Nuclear Safety, United States
Xin-Zheng Lu for Rong Pan, Director of Plant Siting and Civil Engineering, Nuclear Safety and Radiation Safety Center, China

The program included presentations and panel discussions on the following topics:

Recent developments and future needs in seismic hazard characterization
Advancements in risk-informed, performance based earthquake standards
Advanced simulations for transformational hazard and risk assessments
Decommissioning, including under extreme conditions
Experimental testing for advanced understanding
Recent industrial experiences in Probabalistic Risk Assessments
Advanced technologies for performance modification, monitoring and detection

PEER researchers and colleagues who made presentations included:

Khalid Mosalam
Norm Abrahamson
Yousef Bozorgnia
Steve Mahin
Greg Ashley
Ian Buckle
Laurie Johnson
Boris Jeremic
Kenichi Soga
Andreas Schellenberg

After the event, reports from many participants indicated great appreciation for the range and perspectives of topics covered, the high technical quality of the presentations, and the incisive and far-ranging discussions of opportunities and challenges related to risk assessment and resilience.

More information about the Forum, agenda, and presentations can be found on the 2017 UCPR Forum Agenda and Presentations page.

Mahin Panel Group