Civil Engineering Association

FIB 13: Nuclear containments

It was in 1978 that the former FIP (Fédération Internationale de la Précontrainte) published a state-of-art report on Containments for Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs). In 1996 the then FIP Commission 7 Concrete pressure vessels and containments discussed the necessity to up-date this document. After the merger of FIP with CEB (Comité Euro-International du Béton) into fib (fédération internationale du béton - international federation for structural concrete) had taken place in 1998, these activities were continued by a new fib Task-Group 1.3 Containment structures of fib Commission 1 Structures. The decision to update the 1978 report was kept with the intention to give a broad and well illustrated review of existing NPP containments as the most characteristic and complex building of nuclear power plants.
Following the description of containments for different reactor systems the state-of-art report includes considerations on safety as the basic purpose of the containment, which underlies all design and construction aspects and necessitates a strict monitoring and inspection program during the whole life of the structure.
Regulatory requirements and their evolution as well as recent developments, conceptual and technological, are presented.
The report is complemented by two annexes on CD ROM giving some general information (on 160 NPPs built since 19972) and some more detailed data on six typical recent NPP containments.
This work has been achieved during the years 1999 and 2000 thanks to the participation of members of fib Commission 1 and particularly of its Task Group 1.3, involving also further invited experts in the nuclear field from many countries all over the world.

FIB 13: Nuclear containments