Seismic risk analysis and decisions for nuclear power plants

Seismic risk analysis and associated sensitivity studies constitute a part of the Seismic Safety Margins Research Program being conducted by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Although seismic risks are an important contributor to the total nuclear risk, the occurrence of earthquake-related seismic phenomena is low. Safety decisions involving seismic hazards must be made, however. This paper briefly described several categories of decisions that can be made using seismic risk analysis. While risk analysis does not provide all the information required for these decisions, it is a useful tool in that it provides additional information for the decision-making process. We anticipate a growing interest in the use of seismic risk analysis in nuclear safety evaluations.