Since Japan's 2011 Tōhoku Earthquake, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed its focus on flood and seismic risks to our nation's nuclear power plants. Power plant operators faced with reassessing these risks rely on Exponent to help meet their most critical nuclear engineering challenges, including evaluating potential seismic, storm surge, and flooding scenarios.
Storm surge occurs when high winds and decreases in atmospheric pressure during tropical storms and hurricanes elevate ocean water surface levels. It can cause significant flooding in coastal areas and may overwhelm existing flood protection infrastructure like seawalls, dikes, levees, and breakwaters. Exponent's nuclear engineering consultants use the best available data and advanced modeling techniques to develop statistically sound predictions of storm surge levels. Bathymetric and onshore high-resolution topographic data, including light detection and ranging (LiDAR), historical tidal information, and meteorological data are key inputs to these predictions.
Services
For 50+ years, we’ve thrived on solving unstructured problems that require bespoke solutions. Some of our services include:
• Developing fragility curves for seismic, wind, or flood risk assessment of plant structures and structural components
• Assessing flood hazards using hydrodynamic models, bathymetric and onshore topographic and meteorological data, and historical tidal information
• Conducting peer reviews and confirmatory analyses of complex engineering calculations by others to prepare for NRC reviews and audits
• Analyzing geotechnical effects of slope and retaining wall ground shaking
• Engineering evaluation of expected levee performance
Experts
Our global and comprehensive expertise across industries gives us a deep understanding of current challenges, best industry practices, and the implications of emerging technologies.
![Brian McDonald, Ph.D., S.E., F.ASCE](/sites/default/files/styles/people/public/media/images/brian-mcdonald-433-uuid-66d3a78de6cb8.png?itok=ByaBxqGh)
Corporate Vice President and Principal Engineer
![John Osteraas, Ph.D., P.E.](/sites/default/files/styles/people/public/media/images/john-osteraas-505-uuid-66be8b85b3487.png?itok=Mr5ipuou)
Senior Fellow and Principal Engineer
![Troy Morgan, Ph.D., P.E.](/sites/default/files/styles/people/public/media/images/troy-morgan-466-uuid-669b3fcaf2923.png?itok=uvjjUD1V)
Practice Director and Principal Engineer
![Sam Amoroso, Ph.D., P.E., S.E.](/sites/default/files/styles/people/public/media/images/sam-amoroso-861-uuid-669b41e6d1414.png?itok=MMPFWqOt)
![Walter Bak, P.E.](/sites/default/files/styles/people/public/media/images/walter-bak-23-uuid-66bf96204026d.png?itok=mBecg9vK)
![Cliff Bishop, Ph.D., S.E., P.E.](/sites/default/files/styles/people/public/media/images/cliff-bishop-48-uuid-669b4b882a413.png?itok=yhHQeH4P)
![Morgan Griffith, P.E.](/sites/default/files/styles/people/public/media/images/morgan-griffith-255-uuid-669b3e982eeb5.png?itok=JYBnDVwO)
![Jeffrey Hunt, Ph.D., P.E.](/sites/default/files/styles/people/public/media/images/jeffrey-hunt-302-uuid-669b3ed1effdb.png?itok=FLNLv5rD)
![Ezra Jampole, Ph.D., P.E.](/sites/default/files/styles/people/public/media/images/ezra-jampole-311-uuid-66b295f3b0ada.png?itok=rYzLawdZ)
![David Peraza, P.E.](/sites/default/files/styles/people/public/media/images/david-peraza-525-uuid-669b403694547.png?itok=fEslbXBe)
![Juan F. Perri, Ph.D., P.E., G.E.](/sites/default/files/styles/people/public/media/images/juan-f-perri-527-uuid-669b403a65fed.png?itok=IbkKkUEU)
![Vijay Saraf, Ph.D., P.E.](/sites/default/files/styles/people/public/media/images/vijay-saraf-589-uuid-669b409e6957f.png?itok=X_QYIX9d)
![Lloyd Schulman, Ph.D., CCM](/sites/default/files/styles/people/public/media/images/lloyd-schulman-597-uuid-669b40ad6e208.png?itok=sYYkBBP-)
![Bob Bailey, Ph.D., P.E., F. ASCE](/sites/default/files/styles/people/public/media/images/bob-bailey-20-uuid-66ccad93e5ec9.png?itok=XThP2yEl)
Office Director and Senior Managing Engineer
![Julien Cohen-Waeber, Ph.D., P.E., P.G., C.E.G.](/sites/default/files/styles/people/public/media/images/julien-cohen-waeber-918-uuid-669b421f2dce1.png?itok=ZztvQjpX)
Senior Managing Engineer
Capability Insights
![Electric car charging at a hydrogen station, set against a green environment with wind turbines in the background](/sites/default/files/styles/filter_content/public/media/images/GettyImages-2156952186.jpg?itok=XgkSeV0g)