The SIGMA-2 project aims to make hazard assessment for nuclear safety more robust, to improve the representation of ground motion and to ensure that uncertainties are properly considered when applied to nuclear safety. Funded by a consortium of nuclear and energy organisations, and with strong representation from both industry and the research sector, the project addresses characterisation of the earthquake process and its uncertainties in several key areas: 
1) characterisation of deformation processes and faults in Stable Continental Regions (SCRs), 
2) improving knowledge of past earthquakes and developing innovate methods to improve existing sets of recorded historical and instrumental earthquake data, 
3) improving the understanding of the processes controlling seismic ground motion and its characterisation, 
4) reducing uncertainties in the ground motion at the surface considering local site response based on geotechnical measurements, 
5) developing and implementing new and more realistic approaches for probabilistic seismic hazard computation, and 
6) producing data and results tailed for engineering applications to bridge the gap between probabilistic seismic hazard analysis and engineering practice.

Project Duration: 01.06.2018 - 31.05.2022 

Funding Agencies: Funded by a consortium of independent companies including: EDF, CEZ Group, CEA, ORANO, PG&E, Swiss Nuclear and CRIEPI

Partner:  The project, led by Électricité de France (EDF) includes a large consortium of partners from industry and research.

Project website:  https://sigma-programs.com/sigma-2/sigma-2-overview/#

Publications: 
Kotha, S., Bindi, D., Cotton, F. (2022): A regionally adaptable ground-motion model for fourier amplitude spectra of shallow crustal earthquakes in Europe. Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering, 20, 711-740. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-021-01255-1

Kotha, S., Weatherill, G., Bindi, D., Cotton, F. (2020): A Regionally-Adaptable Ground-Motion Model for Shallow Crustal Earthquakes in Europe. - Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering, 18, 4091-4125. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-020-00869-1

Kotha, S. R., Cotton, F., Bindi, D. (2019): Empirical Models of Shear-Wave Radiation Pattern Derived from Large Datasets of Ground-Shaking Observations. Scientific Reports, 9, 981. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-37524-4

Weatherill, G., Cotton, F., Daniel, G., Zentner, I., Iturrieta, P. C., Bosse, C. (2024): Strategies for comparison of modern probabilistic seismic hazard models and insights from the Germany and France border region. - Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (NHESS), 24, 3755-3787. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3755-2024