This paper proposes a simplified approach for assessing and predicting the seismic risks for electrical cabinets in nuclear power plants (NPPs). The method is a combination of fragility analysis and cumulative absolute velocity (CAV) analysis. First, the high confidence of low probability of failure points from the fragility curves are defined to determine the capacity of the cabinet. Then, the potential damage to the electrical cabinet at different locations in Korea is considered via probabilistic seismic maps. Based on the capacity, a seismic risk assessment is conducted to observe the operant condition or predict the potential issues of the electrical cabinet under seismic effects.

An electrical cabinet is used as a setting for numerical simulation. The finite element model is validated against the experimental results and calibrated by using response surface methodology. Numerical results show that the operant condition of the electrical cabinet can be disturbed by probable earthquakes that have CAV values greater than the of 0.27 g‧s. This method is one way that NPP operators can follow to obtain cabinet safety regulations.