April 15, 2024 - Sargent & Lundy recently participated in the prestigious 27th International Conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology, or SMiRT 27, in Yokohama, Japan. The conference focused on "Next Generation Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology," a timely theme considering the industry's focus on advancing safety and efficiency.

Lisa Cleveland, a structural engineering manager for Sargent & Lundy’s nuclear power services, co-chaired the session “Finite Element Analysis Based Design,” which highlighted technical topics on design issues, codes, and standards for nuclear power plant design.

Additionally, a team of the firm’s specialists presented their work on steel-composite wall analysis and a new methodology for streamlining aircraft impact analysis in nuclear power plants. These solutions help optimize plant design, construction, and safety assessments. The Sargent & Lundy team presented four papers at the conference.

• “Proposed Code Guidance for an FEA Solution to Internal Reinforcement of Proposed SC Walls Around Large Openings,” presented and co-authored by Reza Dashpeyma, Ahmed Elremaily, Lisa Cleveland, all of Sargent & Lundy, and Rim Nayal of NuScale. This paper addresses challenges in designing SC walls with large openings, proposing an alternative methodology using penetration sleeve plates and steel reinforcement internal to the SC module.
• “Design Methodology for Standard Steel-Composite (SC) Wall Attachments for Nuclear Power Plants,” presented and co-authored by Derrick Kwok, Steve Ainge, Ahmed Elremaily, and Lisa Cleveland, all of Sargent & Lundy. This paper discusses an analysis and design procedure for qualifying local demand from SC wall attachments while meeting current design codes.
• “A More Realistic Approach for Idealization of Structures in Aircraft Impact Analysis,” presented and co-authored by Soe Moe, Javad Moslemian, and Gang Lin, all of Sargent & Lundy. This paper proposes a more realistic approach to calculating a facility's effective area for aircraft crash risk analysis, potentially reducing design conservatism.
• “Determination of Accidental Hazard Frequency for a Given Strike Zone,” presented and co-authored by Soe Moe, Javad Moslemian, and Alec Nelson, all of Sargent & Lundy. This paper presents a methodology for determining the frequency of aircraft impact damage in specific areas of a structure, leading to more targeted safety assessments.

Sargent & Lundy’s participation in SMiRT 27 demonstrates the firm’s commitment to advancing the field of new nuclear generation. The presented solutions have the potential to reduce construction costs for new nuclear power plants through optimized SC wall design, streamline safety assessments by providing a more realistic approach to aircraft impact analysis, and enhance overall safety and efficiency for the future of nuclear power plants.

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