Status of the General Atomic HTGR core seismic verification program

Special purpose computer programs have been completed which characterize the dynamic response of the HTGR core to seismic motion. These programs have been correlated with experimental results from a variety of scale model tests to confirm the capabilities of analytical methods. In conjunction with the analytical and experimental efforts required to determine the loads within the core, a parallel test program to ascertain the seismic strength allowables of the core components has been conducted. Finally, analytical methods have been developed to compute the impact stresses developed within the components which may then be combined with secondary stresses resulting from thermal and irradiation effects. Although the core seismic program is not yet complete, an in-depth understanding of the dynamic behavior has been obtained, and the capability now exists to evaluate the seismic capacity of the HTGR core