UK seismic hazard assessments for strategic facilities: a short history

The UK is a country with only low to moderate seismicity, and the long intervals between significant earthquakes in Britain results in people forgetting they occur. As a result, seismic hazard was only thought of for the first time in Britain in 1976. For ordinary construction, it is true that seismic hazard can be considered insignificant in the UK, but for strategic facilities, especially those with a high consequence of failure, such as nuclear power plants (NPPs), seismic hazard is important. This paper traces the history of such studies, with emphasis on those for the nuclear industry. The UK seismological community saw major investment from the nuclear industry after 1980. There was a cessation of NPP construction in Britain after 1995, but in recent years steps have been taken towards a resumption of NPP building, which will see a need for new seismic hazard studies.