Seismic-Initiated events risk mitigation in LEad-cooled Reactors : the SILER Project

SILER is a Project, partially funded by the European Commission, aimed at studying the risk associated to seismic-initiated events in Generation IV Heavy Liquid Metal reactors and developing adequate protection measures. The attention is focused on the evaluation of the effects of earthquakes (with particular regard to beyond design seismic events) and to the identification of mitigation strategies, acting both on structures/components design as well as on the development of seismic isolation devices, which can also have positive effects on economics, leading to an high level of plant design standardization. Attention is also devoted to the identification of plant layout solutions able to avoid risks of radioactive release from both the core and other structures (i.e. the spent fuel storage pools). Specific effort is devoted to the development of guidelines and recommendations for addressing the seismic issue in next generation reactor systems.