Seismic design of nuclear power plant buildings

Nuclear power plants are built in a variety of countries and regions all over the world. Some of these regions show seismic activity. Consequently, seismic excitation is an important factor to be considered when designing these plants. The article summarises the basic principles of safe nuclear power plant design in seismically active regions. First, the safety concept underlying seismic design and the corresponding international safety requirements and guidelines are presented. Next, the analytical techniques and methods of computation are shown which can be used in designing for seismic events, and the conservative elements existing in the entire chain of computation are outlined. (orig.)