SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Risk Assessment for Infrastructure

	SwRI risk analysts developed PCSA Tool software for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to evaluate preclosure safety of repository operations at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

Reliability assessment of structure, earth works, and geotechnical designs is an emerging technology. Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has developed a comprehensive understanding of industry reliability assessment needs and priorities, as well as the technologies and expertise to meet those needs. Risk analysis services for the structural and geotechnical area offered at SwRI include the following:

• System Risk Analysis

  • Integrated safety analysis

  • Natural and operational hazard analysis

  • System modeling and sequence analysis

  • Reliability of active and passive systems

  • Uncertainty analysis

  • Total system risk analysis

• Seismic Risk Analysis

  • Seismic probabilistic risk assessment

  • Fragility of structures at a specific limit state

  • Annual probability of failure or seismic performance

  • System modeling and seismic sequence analysis

  • Evaluate system risk

• Seismic Margin Assessment

  • High confidence low probability of failure capacity

  • CDFM and fragility analysis

  • Plant system modeling and seismic margin

  • Assessment of plant vulnerability

• Reliability of Geotechnical Design

  • Soil and rock slopes

  • Tunnels

  • Support systems

SwRI engineers assess the reliability of engineering design of passive systems, e.g. canister drops, considering uncertainties related to demand and capacity parameters.

For more information about risk assessment for infrastructure capabilities at SwRI or how you can contract with SwRI, please contact Dr. Asadul H. Chowdhury at achowdhury@swri.org or (210) 522-5151.
 

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Southwest Research Institute^® (SwRI^®), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is a multidisciplinary, independent, nonprofit, applied engineering and physical sciences research and development organization with 12 technical divisions.

September 16, 2009