Best Estimate Method vs Evaluation Method: a comparison of two techniques in evaluating seismic analysis and design

Abstract

The concept of how two techniques, Best Estimate Method and Evaluation Method, may be applied to the traditional seismic analysis and design of a nuclear power plant is introduced. Only the four links of the seismic analysis and design methodology chain (SMC) - seismic input, soil-structure interaction, major structural response, and subsystem response - are considered. The objective is to evaluate the compounding of conservatisms in the seismic analysis and design of nuclear power plants, to provide guidance for judgments in the SMC, and to concentrate the evaluation on that part of the seismic analysis and design which is familiar to the engineering community. An example applies the effects of three-dimensional excitations on a model of a nuclear power plant structure. The example demonstrates how conservatisms accrue by coupling two links in the SMC and comparing those results to the effects of one link alone. The utility of employing the Best Estimate Method vs the Evaluation Method is also demonstrated.