Response of a base-isolated large liquid metal reactor plant to seismic loads
In recent years, base isolation has been applied to various civil structures such as bridges and buildings for the purpose of reducing its acceleration to below the level of ground accelerations during seismic events. The basic principal of base isolation is to introduce a soft layer of material between structure foundation to allow a degree of flexibility in horizontal motions which could reduce the seismic accelerations during earthquakes. If base isolation is properly designed, it shifts the fundamental frequency of the structure away from the damaging frequency range of earthquakes. Thus, the seismic loads transmitted to the structure can be greatly reduced. This is particularly important in Liquid Metal Reactor (LMR) plants, because the components of primary system such as reactor vessel and piping loops are designed to be thin-walled structures and have little inherent seismic resistance. Thus, the use of base isolation offers a viable and effective approach that permits the reactor structures to better withstand the seismic loading. This paper deals with the seismic response of a base isolated large-scale LMR plant. The analysis model was based on a preliminary nuclear island layout developed by EPRI during the concept development phase of the large-scale prototype breeder (LSPB) project. The nuclear island has a dimension of 184'-0'' {times} 210'-6''; the reactor vessel has an ID of 62 ft and an overall length of 70 ft. Two soil conditions have been considered in the analysis. One is a hard-soil site having a shear wave velocity of 6000 ft/s, and the other is a soft-soil site having a shear wave velocity of 2000 ft/s. For comparison purposes, the responses of a conventional plant (unisolated) was also analyzed. 3 figs., 1 tab.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE/NE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 5529947
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-890855-56; ON: DE89017696; TRN: 89-025156
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 10. international conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology (SMIRT), Anaheim, CA (USA), 14-18 Aug 1989
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
LMFBR TYPE REACTORS
SEISMIC EFFECTS
SITE PREPARATION
FLEXIBILITY
FREQUENCY ANALYSIS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR PROTECTION SYSTEMS
REACTOR SAFETY
REACTOR VESSELS
SAFETY ENGINEERING
BREEDER REACTORS
CONTAINERS
ENGINEERING
EPITHERMAL REACTORS
FAST REACTORS
FBR TYPE REACTORS
LIQUID METAL COOLED REACTORS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
REACTORS
SAFETY
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220900* - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Reactor Safety
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