A methodology to evaluate the seismic performance of interface piping systems that cross the isolation interface in the seismically isolated nuclear power plant (NPP) was developed. The developed methodology was applied to the safety-related interface piping system to demonstrate the seismic performance of the target piping system. Not only the seismic performance for the design level earthquakes but also the performance for the beyond design level earthquakes were evaluated. Two artificial seismic ground input motions which were matched to the design response spectra and two historical earthquake ground motions were used for the seismic analysis of piping system. The preliminary performance evaluation results show that the excessive relative displacements can occur in the seismically isolated piping system. If the input ground motion contained relatively high energy in the low frequency region, we could find that the stress response of the piping system exceed the allowable stress level even though the intensity of the input ground motion is equal to the design level earthquake. The structural responses and seismic performances of piping system were varied sensitively with respect to the intensities and frequency contents of input ground motions. Therefore, for the application of isolation system to NPPs and the verification of the safety of piping system, the seismic performance of the piping system subjected to the earthquake at the target NPP site should be evaluated firstly.

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There has been an increasing demand for introducing a base isolation system to secure the seismic safety of a nuclear power plant. However, the design criteria and the safety assessment methodology of a base isolated nuclear facility are still being developed. A performance based design concept for the base isolation system needs to be added to the general seismic design procedures. For the base isolation system, the displacement responses of isolators excited by the extended design basis earthquake are important as well as the design displacement. The possible displacement response by the extended design basis earthquake should be limited less than the failure displacement of the isolator. The failure of isolators were investigated by an experimental test to define the ultimate strain level of rubber bearings. The uncertainty analysis, considering the variations of the mechanical properties of isolators and input ground motions, was performed to estimate the probabilistic distribution of the isolator displacement. The relationship of the displacement response by each ground motion level was compared in view of a period elongation and a reduction of damping. Finally, several examples of isolator parameters are calculated and the considerations for an acceptable isolation design is discussed.

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