Determination of the NPP Cernavoda reactor building seismic response

Seismic input for systems and equipment installed in buildings depends on: - the seismic movement in free field on site; - the building movement in the soil; - the building deflection. The percentage of the 3 movements for the system and equipment input, depends on the position of the systems and equipment inside the building as well on the type of the foundation soil. The type of the foundation soil is important because if it is stiff it transfers a lot of energy to the building, energy which amplify the movement of the building on the top. If the foundation soil is soft, it accommodates the overall movement of the building in the soil, amplifying the movement to lower levels and the building response is attenuated if a resonance phenomenon between the whole building movement and the seismic excitation does not exist. This input is given with the design floor response spectra (FRS), in the logarithmic scale and seismic anchor movement (SAM). The design floor response spectra for NPP Cernavoda U1 Nuclear Building were determined in several stages starting with simple models (STICK type) without twisting movement and ending with detailed 3-dimensional models. From the point of view of dynamic behavior, the Reactor Building can be considered to be made up of 4 sub-structures: the containment building, internal structures containing separate elements such as the reactor vault, the fuel transfer structure and itself. Each sub-structure has its own movement (some of the structures present also some local effects) which combines with the overall movement of the building in the soil and the seismic excitation produce the total movement so that the response spectrum for each point of the sub-structure is specific. One should note that for structures which also show the twisting effect, the selection of the points on the floor, for the determination on the response spectra, is an engineering decision so that the response should be relevant for the equipment installed on the floor. Where local effects due to relative small stiffness of structure occur, those effects should be included by in the selected points if equipment is to be installed in that area. (authors)