Seismic Hazard and Design - The Revised ONR Guidelines

Synopsis

The impetus that has been injected into the UK's new build nuclear programme has brought about a renewed focus on seismic hazard and design. The diversity of potential new build investors to the UK scene has also brought with it a truly international audience keen to know how regulation in this area will be undertaken and what Relevant Good Practice in this area is seen by the UK regulator to be. These and other factors highlighted the need for the Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR) to review and substantially revise its existing Technical Assessment Guide (TAG) 13 for External Hazards as a whole, and of particular relevance here, the guidance to its inspectors pertaining to seismic hazards. In undertaking this revision, the document structure of the new TAG 13 guidance has been changed to reflect the dominating external hazards, with technical annexes providing guidance to inspectors on seismic hazards, coastal flooding hazards and meteorological hazards. These are now each supported by reference panel papers authored by ONR's Expert Panel on Natural Hazards. Of relevance to this presentation are the TAG13 Annex 1 document and its supporting Reference Panel paper available through this link.

The intent of this presentation is to provide an overview of the Annex 1 document highlighting the key areas that have benefitted from greater detail and clarity. The presentation will focus mainly on seismic hazard and the definition of an appropriate seismic design basis; however, it will also touch on other related areas such as capable faulting and aspects of seismic design. The presentation will conclude by highlighting areas of future development where the guidance is expected to improve in future revisions.

About the speaker

Richard Fowler is an Earthquake Engineer working for the Office of Nuclear Regulation as a Nuclear Safety Inspector within the Civil Engineering and External Hazards specialism. He has been with ONR since 2013 and has been working within the nuclear industry since 2006. He is currently leading the ONR assessment of seismic hazard work for new build projects and was responsible for the development of the TAG 13 Annex 1 guidance document and supporting Reference Panel Paper.

Further information

This evening meeting is organised by SECED and chaired by Andrew Mair (Jacobs). Non-members of the society are welcome to attend. Attendance at this meeting is free. Seats are allocated on a first come, first served basis. Tea and biscuits will be served from 5.30pm - 6pm. For further information, please contact Shelly-Ann Russell (tel. 020 7665 2147, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

This event will be broadcast online.

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