Pierre LABBE from EDF Nuclear Engineering Division and his three colleagues visited IWHR on September 16, 2014 and met the institute’s Vice President Dr. Jia Jinsheng. A seminar was conducted on seismic safety of dams.

Dr. Jia welcomed the second visit of EDF in this year, the first in May. He briefed upon the cooperation between both sides and hoped the seminar would enhance academic exchange, share policies, regulations, technical specifications and research achievements related to seismic safety of dams, and promote technical progress. The vice president emphasized the significance of anti-earthquake engineering for both hydro and nuclear power development, and suggested the joint research and technical exchange in this field be included in the cooperative framework of the two sides to get further support.

During the seminar, Dr. Labbe as well as Alexandre FOUCAULT, program director for earthquake risk analysis, EDF China R&D Center, reported on seismic zoning in France, design and development of seismic standards for dams, and research activities of EDF in seismic safety of dam. Prof. Li Deyu, deputy director of IWHR’s Earthquake Engineering Research Center, as well as Prof. Wang Haibo, chief engineer of the center, made presentations on anti-earthquake performance of dams as well as related standards in China, and research activities. Discussions were also made on design specifications of anti-earthquake for dams, damage mechanism and response, assessment tools and models, revision and objectives of standards, public awareness and communication on engineering seismic safety.