Seismic protection technology for nuclear power plants: a systematic review

Seismic protection systems (SPS) have been developed and used successfully in conventional structures, but their applications in nuclear power plants (NPPs) are scarce. However, valuable research has been conducted worldwide to include SPS in nuclear engineering design. This study aims to provide a state-of-the-art review of SPS in nuclear engineering and to answer four significant research questions: (1) why are SPS not adopted in the nuclear industry and what issues have prevented their deployment? (2) what types of SPS are being considered in nuclear engineering research? (3) what are the strategies for location of SPS within NPPs? and (4) how may SPS provide improved structural performance and safety of NPPs under seismic actions? This review is conducted following the procedures of systematic reviews, where possible.

The issues concerning the use of SPS in NPPs are identified: cost, safety, licensing and scarcity of applications. NPPs demand full structural integrity and reactor's safe shutdown during earthquake actions. Therefore, horizontal isolation may be insufficient in active seismic zones and isolation in the vertical direction may be required. Based on the results in this review, it is likely that next generation reactors in seismic zones will include state-of-the-art SPS to achieve full standardised design.