Abstract

Nuclear power currently provides a clean source for 20% of the UK’s electricity, this is due to be replaced by a new generation of plants constructed in the near future. However, new Nuclear Power Plants have often proven to be too expensive, take too long to build and carry enormous economic risk during the construction phase. Offsite manufacturing and assembly, where prefabricated parts are made in factories and then assembled on site, has recently been successfully applied to bridges, hospitals, skyscrapers and houses. The next generation of Nuclear Power Plants, Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), must use a similar approach to achieve economic savings, faster construction and certainty of delivery. The overall objective of my project is to develop, understand and experimentally investigate the seismic performance of connection designs between large precast concrete walls. Experimental results are then to be implemented in a discrete element model of a nuclear building under earthquake loading. Finally, new low-damage rocking structural systems are to be modified and applied as a construction friendly approach for nuclear structures.