Curtiss-Wright Nuclear Canada (CWNC) recently performed the first EPRI Seismic Qualification Reporting and Testing Standardization (SQURTS) testing outside of the United States at their facility in Newmarket, Ontario.

Engineers Michael Nanowski and Amrit Singh conducted the seismic qualification testing on a pipe-mounted pressure relief valve for Bruce Power. The testing consisted of a natural frequency search, seismic aging, and seismic testing on a tri-axial shaker table capable of testing items weighing up to 10,000 pounds.

As part of the EPRI SQURTS program, the newly qualified the pressure relief valve was added to Curtiss-Wright Nuclear’s database of over 12,000 seismically qualified items. In addition to the free seismic testing through SQURTS, all EPRI members such as Bruce Power and Ontario Power Generation have access to this database.

Since 1992, the EPRI SQURTS program has aimed to significantly reduce utility costs by streamlining the seismic qualification process.

Further information about the EPRI SQURTS program can be found at http://www.squrts.org/ or by contacting Adrienne Myers (Curtiss-Wright Nuclear Program Administrator) at [email protected].