Seismic Probabilistic Safety Assessment for Nuclear Facilities

Seismic probabilistic safety assessment (SPSA) is a systematic method for examining and evaluating the risk from earthquake-initiated accidents. The significant advances in the area of SPSA since the initial publication in 2002 of Technical Opinion Paper No. 2: Seismic Probabilistic Safety Assessment for Nuclear Facilities by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency have prompted its revision. The objective of this report is to provide the up-to-date international view on the state of the SPSA as it is currently being applied, including a description of the main elements of SPSA. While the uncertainties associated with seismic hazard and the determination of seismic failure probabilities are typically large, the inclusion of SPSA in a risk assessment results in a more complete risk picture, and thus enables more meaningful PSA applications.