Structural Seismic Fragility Analysis of the Surry Containment (NUREG/CR-6783)

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Publication Information

Manuscript Completed: June 2002
Date Published: October 2002

Prepared by:
Eric W. Klamerus

Sandia National Laboratories
Albuquerque, NM 87185-0744

J. Davis, NRC Project Manager

Prepared for:
Division of Engineering Technology
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001

NRC Job Code W6487

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Abstract

In a collaborative program between the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation (NUPEC) of Japan, the seismic behavior of a Reinforced Concrete Containment Vessel (RCCV) model was investigated. A 1:8 scale RCCV model was constructed by NUPEC and subjected to seismic simulation tests. Dynamic 3D finite element analyses were performed before and after the seismic tests.

Utilizing the same material models developed for the RCCV analysis, a detailed finite element model was developed for the Surry Nuclear Power plant containment structure and seismic analyses were performed. Material models that were validated by previous scaled model seismic tests and analyses were used. The Surry model was then subjected to 30 different earthquake time-history accelerations. In addition, Latin Hypercube Sampling was used to vary all the material and modeling parameters of the input to get a realistic distribution for this limited set of runs.

Fragilities were generated based on the limiting concrete shear strains. In general, the results show the Surry reinforced containment is highly resistant to seismic structural failure when it is modeled on a rigid rock foundation. The most significant variable in the response is the variability in the input earthquakes. Modeling on a rock site, rather than on a soil site, will produce higher concrete stresses and strains than for a less rigid site model, resulting in a conservative estimate of the structural capacity of a reinforced concrete containment. These predictions may be non-conservative for other failure modes (such as pipes breaking), however, because a containment on a soil site would probably see larger displacements than a containment attached to rock.