Earthquake-resistant design of nuclear power plants in Japan

Japan has 33 nuclear power plants in operation, 11 more under construction and 10 in the planning stage. Because Japan is a region of typhoons, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, the plants have to be able to withstand dynamic and static earthquake loads. The flow of work for aseismic design for a nuclear power plant from planning to post-production stage is illustrated. Soil structure interactions have to be included in the relevant calculations. When the design is accepted by local and central government, the construction is subject to many quality control procedures. Vibration experiments and simulation analyses test the design. (UK)