The Fukushima nuclear accident has highlighted the need for further research into nuclear safety and radiation protection . At the press conference on June 27, 2011 , the President of the Republic announced its decision to release significant additional resources to strengthen research in this area , where France has recognized advance. The French National Agency for Research has published a call then (50 M€) to stimulate research in the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection :
- provide additional means to strengthen research in the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection ,
- know the circumstances that led to major nuclear accidents, and in particular the Fukushima March 11 2011, and taking into account the initial findings Ratings Supplemental Security implemented by the Nuclear Safety Authority ;
- examine ways of managing all major nuclear accidents to date by operators and public authorities;
- study the impact of these incidents on the release of radioactive materials, their impact on health and the environment and conditions for recovery of contaminated territories;
- the application of these lessons for France ‘s nuclear facilities present and future national approach to increase the reliability , resilience and effectiveness of their emergency mechanisms in case of extreme events.
In this context , Member SEISM Institute decided to build an ambitious research project called SINAPS@ (Earthquake and Nuclear Facilities : Ensuring Safety and Sustaining).
SINAPS@ aims to explore the uncertainties inherent in databases, knowledge of the physical processes and methods used at each step of the evaluation of the seismic hazard and the vulnerability of structures and nuclear components, in the context of a safety approach: the main objective is to identify or quantify the seismic margins resulting from assumptions or when selecting the level of seismic design, i.e. taking into account the uncertainties in the conservative choice, or design strategy (conservative assumptions , choice of materials, …). SINAPS@ project will help to address safety issues highlighted following the Fukushima accident and French studies additional security , especially with regard to seismic safety margins.
SINAPS@ is coordinated by CEA and brings together a multidisciplinary community of scientists and engineers university teams and organizations associated with nuclear issues (designer of the operator by providing technical support to the regulator). The project partners are the CEA , EDF, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan, Ecole Centrale Paris, the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety, laboratory soil – Solids -Structures and Risks ( Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble), the School Centrale de Nantes, EGIS – industry, AREVA, ISTerre, IFSTTAR and CEREMA.
In 2013, SINAPS@ was selected by the National Agency for Research. This 5-year project with a total cost of more than € 12.5 million, is funded at € 5M by the NRA. The project SINAPS@ particular, to finance 13 projects theses and 15 post- doctorates. Note that SINAPS@ stands as the first research project in France, where the seismic risk is to evaluate fully the fault of the engineering and equipment, with an emphasis on the propagation of uncertainties (in the field free seismic hazard, site effects , soil structure interaction , the transfer of the seismic motion to the construction and components) .
SINAPS@ project partners : CEA , EDF , ENS Cachan, Ecole Centrale Paris , Ecole Centrale Nantes, Grenoble Polytechnic Institute , Areva, IRSN , EGIS – Industries, Université Joseph ISTerre , IFSTTAR , CEREMA Méditerranée, PIA –RSNR.
