Overview

Earthquakes represent one of the major external hazards to the safe operation of nuclear power plants. Thus buildings, systems, and components critical to the safety of a nuclear power plant are generally designed to withstand assumed earthquake based on the relevant design criteria. A seismic trip system has been integrated into numerous reactor designs in order to mitigate the adverse effects of a strong earthquake and further enhance reactor safety. This system is intended to shut down the reactor in operation automatically before it is significantly impacted by the vibratory ground motion incurred by strong earthquakes. The standard specifies the minimum requirements for the design of the seismic trip system, and the components thereof, used in a nuclear power plant to mitigate seismic effects. This document is applicable to both the design of new built plants and the upgrading of plants in operation. It may be used for the design of other types of nuclear facilities where normal operation shall be stopped in case of strong seismic motions. The Annex to the standard provides several examples for practical implementation of a seismic trip system.

Responsible national committee

DKE/UK 967.1 - Elektro- und Leittechnik für kerntechnische Anlagen