NUREG-1 148

Nuclear Power Plant

Fire Protection Research Program

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research

A. Datta
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I
NUREG-1 148

Nuclear Power Plant

Fire Protection Research Program

Manuscript Completed: April 1985

Manuscript Completed: April 1985

Date Published: July 1985

A. Datta

Division of Engineering Technology

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Washington, D.C. 20555
I
Foreword

This document presents a plan for Nuclear Power Plant Fire Protection Research

to be performed principally by the Electrical Engineering Instrumentation and

Control Branch, Division of Engineering Technology, Office of Nuclear

Regulatory Research. It presents the objectives of the program, describes the

research that will be carried out to achieve the objectives, and identifies

areas of coordination with the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

We perceive this plan to be a living document and expect to revise it

periodically to take into account our experience in implementing the plan and

comments received from interested parties within the NRC and among the public.

Comments on this document are welcome at any time and will be considered in

the development of subsequent editions of this plan. They need not be

restricted to the research activities described herein; comments identifying

omissions or recommending additional research are also welcome.

Bill M. Morris, Chief

Elect ical Engineering Instrumentation

an Control nch

Approved by: -- V

uy A. ýrlottb, Director

Divisioh of Engineering Technology

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
I
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

I. INTRODUCTION ................................................... 1

1.1 Program Overview ......................................... 1

1.2 Background ............................................... 2

1.2.1 Contribution of Fire to Risk ..................... 2

1.2.2 Control Room ...................................... 4

1.2.3 Actuation of Fire Suppression Systems ............. 5

II. APPROACH ....................................................... 7

2.1 Program Organization ..................................... 7

2.2 Fire Source Characterization ............................. 7

2.3 Fire Environment Determination ........................... 8

2.4 Fire Failure Thresholds of Equipment ..................... 9

2.5 Control Room Habitability and Fire Safety Study (CR) .... 10

2.6 Coordination with RMIEP ................................. 12

III. PROJECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS, SCHEDULES, AND BUDGET .............. 13

APPENDIX A. DETAILED PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS .......................... 17

A.1 Fire Source Characteristics (FSC) ........................ 17

A.2 Fire Environment Determination (FED) ..................... 17

A.3 Fire Failure Thresholds (FFT) ............................ 19

A.4 Control Room Habitability and Fire Safety Study (CR) ..... 20

APPENDIX B. COORDINATION WITH NRR/CMEB ............................. 22

B.1 Fire Source Characteristics (FSC) ........................ 22

B.2 Fire Environment Determination (FED) ..................... 22

B.3 Fire Failure Thresholds (FFT) ............................ 23

iii
I
FIRE PROTECTION RESEARCH PROGRAM

I. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Program Overview

The goal of the Fire Protection Research Program is to develop test data and

analytical capabilities to support the evaluation of:

1. the contribution of fires to the risk from nuclear power plants,

2. the effects of fires on control room equipment and operations, and

3. the effects of actuation of fire suppression systems on safety equipment.

These three goals will be reached by implementing a common threefold research

approach:

Define Fire Sources. A range of fire sources will be characterized with respect

to their energy and mass evolution, including smoke, corrosion products, and

electrically conductive products of combustion. The combustible content and

configurations of the sources determine the energy and mass release rate characteristics of the fires.

-Define Environments. An analytical method for determining the environment resulting from fire will be developed. This method will account for the source characteristics, the suppression action following detection of the fire, and certain

parameters specific to the plant enclosure in which the fire originates, such

as the geometry of the enclosure and the ventilation rate. The developing local

environment in the vicinity of safety-related equipment will be expressed in

terms of temperatures, temperature rise rates, heat fluxes, and moisture and

certain species content.

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Define Equipment Response. The response of certain safe shutdown equipment and

components to the environmental conditions will be studied. The objective will

be to determine the limits of environmental conditions that a component may be

exposed to without impairment of its ability to function.

The rationale for this approach is provided in Section II, and the detailed project descriptions are in Appendix A. The schedules for completing the separate

portions of the fire protection research program and the budget estimates are

shown in Tables I and 2.

Coordination With Other Programs. Development and evaluation of this Fire

Protection Research Program is being coordinated with the work in progress on

Control Room Habitability Program and the Risk Methods Integration and Evaluation Program (RMIEP). The latter will be evaluating all risks associated with

the La Salle plant.

1.2 Background

1.2.1 Contribution of Fire to Risk

NRR research needs in PRA methodology were outlined in a memo from Denton to

Minogue dated November 30, 1982. The recommendations in the area of external

event risks included information to be generated on "equipment performance in

accident environment," "suitable but simple methods ... to predict variations

in environmental parameters following an accident, for example: temperature

and pressure build-up," and "fragility data relating equipment failure probabilities to environmental changes." Specifically, in the area of fire risk,

RES was urged to give attention to the aspects of "systems interaction between

fire protection features and safety systems," "the reliability of fire protection features" and "the likelihood of qualified equipment to withstand the

effects of fire and fire suppressants."

The External Events PRA Working Group, in its recommendations for improving

the capability of PRA for external events ("External Events Considerations in

Probabilistic Risk Assessment," dated June 30, 1983), observes that "with

fire, as with all the other disciplines, the insufficiency of the data base is

06/20/85 2 FIRE PROTECTION PLAN

I
a major problem. In addition, the validity of modeling techniques, the knowledge

of fire accident sequences, and the knowledge of the reliability of the fire

protection systems limits the degree of confidence in PRA results."

The working group has specifically identified the following information needs:

1. The frequency/magnitude of fires in power plants, including fires in

transient materials;

2. The distribution of "time-to-fire detection" as it relates to the location

and the magnitude of plant fires;

3. The distribution of "time-to-fire suppression" conditional upon the location and the magnitude of plant fires;

4. Component responses and their damageabilitý from fires of different

magnitudes;

5. Failure rate data on fire protection systems;

6. The frequency of fires simultaneous with secondary independent initiating

events.

Both NRR and RES have initiatives underway to address most of these.needs. The

Chemical Engineering Branch of NRR has awarded a contract to the Brookhaven

National Laboratory to establish a methodology and a data base for probabilistic assessment of fire risks and to develop guidance for NRR evaluation of

PRAs by others.

The Division of Risk Analysis and Operations of RES is engaged in the Risk Methods

Integration and Evaluation Program (RMIEP). The program has as its objective

the development of an improved PRA method and demonstration of the method in

reference to one actual plant, the La Salle County Nuclear Station, Unit 2.

The Fire Risk Analysis part of the RMIEP proposes to reduce the uncertainties

in the PRA models for ignition, fire growth, detection and suppression, and

component fragility. PRA methods currently rely on past

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experience with fire incidents in large industrial plants, both nuclear and nonN nuclear. There are serious weaknesses in that data base in the areas of fire

growth and consequent threat to barriers and safety-related equipment, detection

and suppression times, and component damage information. The program described

here will complement the RES/DRAO program by generating deterministic information

in these areas, both by experimentation and by analysis. The two programs (those

of DET and DRAO of RES) are coordinated so that the La Salle fire PRA when completed

will have input from an improved data base.

Future applications of PRA methods are foreseen in the assessment of fire risks

arising from secondary independent initiating events, such as earthquakes. The

data base on equipment fragility and the analysis methodology for fire safety

margins proposed to be developed in this program would be useful for that

eventual application.

1.2.2 Control Room

In the control room, there is a high density of electrical instrumentation and

control cables of the redundant trains in necessarily close proximity to each

other. Fire protection of the control room is complicated by the fact that

malfunction of critical components may have cascading effects of spreading loss

of control in areas remote from the control room. The requirements of operability for components in the electrical cabinets in the control room, therefore,

become more stringent. A systematic study of the control system and how faults

may propagate In the event of a fire is needed. A systems approach, utilizing

the knowledge and the methodologies of spatial separation, should be used in such

a study. The data base produced would be of value in devising ways of ensuring

a margin of safety.

The other concern in the control room, as expressed by the ACRS on several occasions, is that existing requirements to protect the occupants of the control room

in accident situations may not be adequate (ACRS to the Chairman, NRC, dated

March 11, 1980). NRR has responded to this concern (Denton to Dircks, dated

June 29, 1984) with a program plan contained in the staff report titled Control

Room Habitability, dated June, 1984. One of the recommendations of the staff

report is that "limiting environmental conditions for operation

06/20/85 4 FIRE PROTECTION PLAN

I
in the control room should be established and should consider human performance

as well as equipment operation as the basis for selection of appropriate limits."

The staff report itself proposes environmental criteria for human performance.

The need is for a determination whether the generic control room habitability

system is adequate for the maintenance of that minimal environment through a

credible fire accident. The effectiveness with which the habitability system,

which includes the HVAC system, isolates the control room and removes smoke and

toxic products from within needs to be studied, and possible remedial actions

need to be examined. This program addresses the issue by determining the

fire-generated environment and the purge effectiveness.

1.2.3 Actuation of Fire Suppression Systems

The Office of Inspection and Enforcement describes in Information Notice 83-41,

which vlas addressed to all holders of operating licenses and construction permits, several instances of automatic fire suppression system actuations resulting in inoperability of safety-related equipment. The document provides a list

of twelve "selected examples" of reported events occurring between November 1980

and October 1982. In some of these examples, the suppression system actuated

properly in response to a valid signal. In others, there was no real need for

actuation. The latter cases do not appear to have any single causative factor.

Errors apparently have been made in design, installation, or operating and maintenance procedures.

In one incident an ionization-type smoke detector initiated an alarm because

of a buildup of humidity and steam vapor in the HPCI room. The consequent

automatic actuation of the water deluge system rendered the HPCI system inoperable. In another incident, inadvertent actuation of the suppression system

resulted in the tripping of an RPS motor-generator set and in a small amount

of water entering the control rod drive switchgear cabinet. The reactor was

manually tripped from full power in response to two dropped control rods

following the condition.

Furthermore, concerns have been expressed (Michelson to Denton, dated July 28,

1982) about the degradation in the performance of equipment, including solid

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state devices, due to the cooling effect of spuriously released CO2 fire

suppressant.

Any operation of an automatic fire suppression system will create environments

that may damage safe shutdown equipment. In addition to a general lack of

information concerning the effects of fire on safe shutdown equipment, we also

know little about the effects of fire suppressants on them. Current regulations

for equipment qualification require that, only the equipment that would be

exposed to high-energy steam line breaks classified as DBAs must be qualified

for steam and humidity. The need exists to determine the effects of fire

suppression agents, in addition to the effects of fire, on the operability and

failure thresholds of safe shutdown equipment.

06/20/85 6 FIRE PROTECTION PLAN

I
II. APPROACH

2.1 Program Organization

The threefold approach outlined in Section 1.1, above, constitute the first

three segments of the Fire Protection Research Program, wherein the basic methodology and data are developed. Work on each of these segments will initially

proceed simultaneously and independently, but as the program matures results of

the segments will be combined. For example, use of data from the Fire Source

Characterization (FSC) in the methodology developed by the Fire Environment

Determination (FED) will yield the progressively developing fire environment in

a given plant enclosure. That fire environment used in conjunction with the

results of the Fire Failure Thresholds (FFT) testing will enable determination

of the time-to-failure of particular safe shutdown components located in the

plant enclosure of interest. This quantity (the time-to-failure) is one of two

key ingredients in the eventual determination of component fragility. The other

is the time-to-suppression. The probability of the suppression time exceeding

the failure time is the starting point of fragility analysis in PRA. The three

segments (FSC, FED and FFT) all produce data and methodologies that are generic

for the rest of the Fire Protection Research Program. That includes the evaluation of the fire safety margin for control rooms, the interaction of the fire

suppression system with safe shutdown system, and the generation of a data base

for PRA. A rational for each of these segments of the program, its plan of

operation, and its expected end products follow.

2.2 Fire Source Characterization (FSC)

Fires in nuclear power plants initiate and grow in a finite number of combustibles in known configurations (e.g., vertical and horizontal cable trays) and

unknown configurations (e.g., lubricants, solvents, and trash). The energy and

mass release rates of the fire, including release rates of certain toxic and

corrosive products of combustion, need to be known in order to determine the

environments resulting from the fire.

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The end product of FSC will be the characteristics of a range of fires that

could occur in nuclear power plants. At this time, the set is expected to

include typical cable system fires and fires resulting from transient solid

combustibles and flammable liquid spills. Some experimental data on the heat

and the mass release rates of such fires exist in the literature. These data

will be pooled and the gaps in the information will be filled by further experimentation. Fire characteristics will be determined for classes of fuel, and

for particular configurations of the fuel, in the form of heat and the mass

release rate histories.

Appendix A, Section A.1, contains a discussion of program details.

2.3 Fire Environment Determination (FED)

A series of reproducible, full-scale tests will be performed in which a-range of

fires studied under FSC (Section 2.2) above will be replicated, and a thermal

mapping in three dimensions will be obtained by actual measurenent of such

parameters as temperatures heat flux, and species concentration. Since it is

impossible to replicate all combinations of nuclear power plant enclosures and

other variables such as door opening, ventilation rates, placement of the fire,

and the fire characteristics, this test series will cover a range of enclosurevariables, some with representative equipment configurations.

An analytical capability will be developed to calculate potential fire environments within enclosures, given the fire source characteristics. An existing

basic computer code will be adapted to the specific needs of this program and

will be validated by the test series.

The model development and testing work will contribute to two related areas.

First, the technique of analysis using the computer code can be used to examine

various configurations of barriers, shields, and enclosures to determine whether

they improve on the margin of safety of the safe shutdown capability. Second,

with the analysis of the flow-field for a given configuration of equipment in

an enclosure, one obtains a sound technical basis for the siting of fire

detectors and fire suppression equipment.

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The end products of FED will be:

1. A data base of test results showing fire environment developed for a

range of potential fires in a set of plant enclosures covering a range of

dimensions.

2. A user-interactive computer program applicable to a wide'range of geometries

for the purpose of predicting fire environments in enclosures.

3. An integrated methodology whereby the environments created by a range of

fires (FSC, Section 2.2) in plant enclosures is determined, and in conjunction with equipment damage thresholds (FFT, Section 2.4) is used to estimate

the time-to-failure of certain classes of equipment.

4. A data base for development of fire PRA in nuclear power plant enclosures,

including time-to-detection, time-to-suppression, and the probable sequence

of failure of equipment in potential fire environments.

Appendix A, Section A.2 contains a discussion of program details.

2.4 Fire Failure Thresholds of Equipment (FFT)

The level of degradation due to fire environments at which the continued operability of selected safe shutdown equipment can no longer be ensured will, for

the purpose of this program, be designated the fire failure threshold of the

equipment. The fire environment includes the contribution of any extinguishment action and the actuation of an automatic fire suppression system without a

fire being present. Although it is common to find operating temperature ratings

on electrical equipment, fire failure threshold ratings are not specified. Fire

failure thresholds of equipment will be related to parameters of the environment

in the immediate vicinity of the equipment. These parameters will, as a minimum,

include temperature and heat flux. Other parameters, such as corrosive chemical

species concentration and smoke density, may also be pertinent to the loss of

operability of specific equipment. A fire failure, furthermore, may be due to

a combination of the environmental parameter and the duration of exposure. The

fire failure will be a loss of function, e.g., a motor fails to start up because

06/20/85 9 FIRE PROTECTION PLAN
of damage to a cable, or due to malfunction or spurious actuation, e.g., a

relay spuriously makes br breaks a circuit.

Surveys to identify the present state of knowledge of the operability requirements of specific equipment and the probable mechanisms of degradation of that

equipment in fire environments will be made. These surveys will draw upon PRAs,

FSAR licensee submittals, and NRR and I&E correspondence. Another source of

information is the plant design and operational experience of architect/engineer

firms.

A test program to augment the available data on the fire failure thresholds will

follow the surveys. This test program will employ an apparatus capable of reproducing simulated fire environments, such as increasing and decreasing temperature

ramps associgted with the development of actual fires, automatic fire suppression

activities, and selected combustion product concentrations. The apparatus will

also be capable of determining the instant of component or system failure under the

test conditions. The program will include tests to study degradation of selected

equipment due to inadvertent application of fire suppressants, such as water and CO2 .

The end products of FFT will be:

1. A data base on the fire and fire suppressant failure thresholds of selected

safe shutdown equipment, and

2. Methodologies for the determination of fire failure thresholds of such

equipment.

Appendix A, Section A.3 contains a discussion of program details.

2.5 Control Room Habitability and Fire Safety Study (CR)

The study of control room habitability and fire safety will combine the methodologies of fire source characterization, determination of the resulting environment, and safety-related equipment response. The equipment of concern will

include those related to both safe shutdown and to the maintenance of

habitability.

06/20/85 10 FIRE PROTECTION PLAN

I
Transient fire sources in the control room will be characterized in FSC (Section 2.2). These fire sources will be used to ignite certain instlu combustibles-to determine the range of energy, smoke, and toxic gas output of fires

in which one or more of the electrical control cabinets are involved in fire.

This set of reference fire data will be used to determine the fire environment

and smoke removal needs in generic situations and to validate the analysis

technique.

An analysis using a three-dimensional hydrodynamic computer code (Section 2.3)

will map the air and combustion product flow under various arrangements of the

ventilation and smoke purge system. Given the criteria of minimal human habitability from the NRR Division of Human Factors Safety, this analysis will estimate the margin of time an operator has in a given scenario to initiate fire

suppression action, or to transfer control to a remote shutdown panel and

vacate the control room.

A test program will replicate control room configurations with postulated fire

sources and will record the developing environment in each case. Equipment fire

failure thresholds will be determined in FFT (Section 2.4). The hazardous environment quantified by the test program will be used to estimate the extent of equipment damage or malfunction in the control room. The extent of propagation of the

electrical malfunction that may cause loss of plant shutdown capability will be

studied in a control system analysis.

The end products of the Control Room Habitability and Fire Safety Study will be:

1. A data base on a range of fire scenarios that could cause failure of equipment and lead to conditions resulting in loss of shutdown and safety functions;

2. The system interactions affecting shutdown and safety functions for the

identified failures; and

3. Estimate of the smoke removal effectiveness of typical habitability

systems.

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Appendix A, Section A.4 contains a discussion of program details.

2.6 Coordination with RMIEP

The RMIEP Fire Risk Analysis program calls for deterministic data in several

areas to reduce uncertainties in the various models used in the fire portion

of the PRA. The RMIEP is to demonstrate the improved methodology by performing

a PRA for the La Salle plant using an analysis of the fire growth and spread

probabilities for key single and multiple fire areas. The fire environment computer code, proposed to be developed as part of this program (Section 2.3),

will be used to estimate the environments created by potential fires in some of

the most complicated of those areas, such as the control room.

The RMIEP calls for deterministic and probabilistic analysis of fire detection

and suppression times and component fragility. The full-scale fire tests and

the computer code of this program (Section 2.3 and 2.5) will generate estimates

of the time-to-detection and the time-to-suppression of fire. The fire failure

thresholds (Section 2.4) of safety-related equipment and cables created by this

program will be used to reduce PRA uncertainties in component fragility.

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I
III. PROJECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS, SCHEDULES, AND BUDGET

The projection of accomplishments from the Fire Protection Research Program

efforts presented below is based on the level of funding shown in the proposed

budget figures through FY 1986. Table I shows the projected time schedule and

Table 2 the budget estimates. The parenthetical references are to projects in

Appendix A, below.

FY 1984 Accomplishments

1. Survey of fire characteristics from past test completed (FSC1, 2).

2. Survey on existing information on fire failure thresholds and selection of

equipment for testing started (FFTI, 2).

3. Experimental work to determine failure thresholds of cables under transient

fire environments started (FFT3).

4. Test chambers designed for determining fire failure thresholds of

equipments (FFT3).

5. Demonstration of the potential of existing computer code for determining

fire environment completed (FED1).

6. Baseline tests designed as basis for extrapolation using computer code

(FED3).

7. Final report on electrical cabinet fire testing at University of California -

Berkley completed. A second round of testing is planned, and submitted

to NRR for review (CR1).

8. Control room systems analysis completed; tests and analysis procedures

planned (CR2).

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FY 1985 Accompllshements

1. Fire characteristics experiments with representative fuels in different

configurations started (FSC3).

2. Fire (including smoke and fire suppressant) failure threshold testing of

various selected equipment started (FFT3).

3. Adaptation of computer code to extrapolate fire environments completed

(FED2).

4. Baseline tests for determination of fire environment started (FED3).

5. Electrical cabinet fire testing completed (CR1).

6. Control room fire testing started (CR4).

7. Parametric study of control room fire environment by computer simulation

started (CR3).

FY 1986 Accomplishements

1. Fire characteristics tests completed (FSC3).

.2. Compilation of probable fire characteristics completed (FSC4).

3. Fire failure threshold testing completed and recommendations on testing

methodologies for the various equipments prepared (FFT3, 4).

4. Fire environment computer code and user package development completed

(FED4).

5. Fire environment baseline testing completed (FED3).

6. Control room testing and computer studies completed (CR3, CR4).

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I
TABLE 1: FIRE PROTECTION RESEARCH-PROGRAM

PROJECT TIME SCHEDULE

FY83 FY84 FY85 FY86

I. Fire Source Characteristic (FSC)

1. Review of Prior Sandia Fire Tests

2. Survey of Other Research Results

3. Fire Source Testing

4. Summary of Fire Characteristics

II. Fire Environment Determination (FED)

1. Fire Environment Model Study

2. Computer Code Adaptation for Open

Enclosures

3. Baseline Testing

4. Code Validation and Preparation

of User Package

5. Computer Code Adaptation for

Compartmented Enclosures

III. Fire Failure Thresholds (FFT)

1. Establish Operability Requirements

2. Survey of Existing Information

3. Design and Perform Tests

4. Summary of Testing

Methodologies and Results

IV. Control Room Habitability and Fire

Safety Study (CR)

1. Testing Electrical Cabinets

2. Control Room Systems Study

3. Parametric Study of Control

Room Fire Environments

4. Control Room Validation

Testing,

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Table 2: FIRE PROTECTION RESEARCH PROGRAM

(amounts in $K)

FY83

BUDGET ESTIMATES

FY84 FY85 FY86

I. Fire Source Characteristic (FSC)

1. Review of Prior Sandia Fire Tests

2. Survey of Other Research Results

3. Fire Source Testing

4. Summary of Fire Characteristics

II. Fire Environment Determination (FED)

1. Fire Environment Model Study

2. Computer Code Adaptation for

Open Enclosures

3. Baseline Testing

4. Code Validation and Preparation of

User Package

5. Computer Code Adaptation for

'iompartmented Enclosures

6

22

35

40

50 100 50

50

84

200 150

300 300 200

300

50

III. Fire Failure Thresholds (FFT)

1 .

2.

3.

4.

Establish Operability Requirements

Survey of Existing Information

Design and Perform Tests

Summary of Testing Methodologies

and Results

31

31

80

50

250 250 150

50

IV. Control Room Habitability and Fire

Safety Study (CR)

1. Testing Electrical Cabinets

2. Control Room Systems Study

3. Parametric Study of Control

Room Fire Environments

4. Control Room Validation

Testing

27

7

100

185

50

50

100 100

TOTALS $K 208 1290 1000 950

06/20/85 16 FIRE PROTECTION PLAN

I
APPENDIX A

DETAILED PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS

A.I Fire Source Characteristics (FSC)

Project FSC1 - Survey of prior Sandia fire tests. Determine the mass and

energy release characteristics of the full-scale tests performed by Sandia at

Underwriters Laboratories and of other smaller fire experiments involving

other fuels.

Project FSC2 - Survey of other existing research results. Assemble the mass

and energy release rate characteristics of probable source fuels, such as flammable liquid pools and cable bundles, from the literature. Collect data on

the evolution'of various corrosive gases.

Project FSC3 - Fire Source Characterization Test. The results of the above

projects will be reviewed to identify tests needed to fill gaps In the fire

source characteristics. The fuel configurations in such tests will be well

defined. The test fires will not be restricted by lack of air.

Project FSC4 - Summary of Fire Characteristics. A data base on the mass and

energy release histories of a range of fires will be prepared.

A.2 Fire Environment Determination (FED)

Project FEDI - Fire environment model and computer code selection. Existing

fire models and computer codes have been surveyed, and selection has been made of

one most suitable for development to address the problems of determining fire

environments in nuclear power plant enclosures with typical layouts of safetyrelated equipment. The computer code is capable of describing the environmental parameters as functions of the time elapsed from the inception of the

fire until complete suppression. The following requirements were stipulated

for the code:

1. The model and the numerical code in its basic form must have already been

utilized In enclosure/fire plume studies.

06/20/85 17 FIRE PROTECTION PLAN
2. The fire source will be simulated by its transient characteristics such

as temperature, velocity, energy and mass release rates, and the composition of the combustion products. These and the boundary conditions pertaining to the geometry of the enclosure will be determined independently

of the code. The geometrical configurations of the fire source will be

defined, and the code will have the capability to incorporate it.

3. The code will have the capability to simulate typical enclosure geometries

and to include doors, vents, and obstacles such as equipment, barriers,

and beams. It will also have the capability to simulate ventilation

conditions, both natural and forced.

4. The numerical procedure of the code will make the error-bounds estimable,

and a balance will be struck between the computation time and accuracy.

5. The output of the code will make possible a three-dimensional mapping of

the progressively developing environment at any point in the enclosure.

The parameters quantifying the environment will, as a minimum, include

temperature and velocity.

Project FED2 - Computer Code Adaptation for Open Enclosures. The selected computer code will be adapted to the specific needs of this program in validating

the code under CR4 and doing parametric studies of control room environments

under CR3 and for control room PRA's under the RMIEP.

Project FED3 - Baseline testing. A series of full-scale fire tests will be

performed on a set of generic enclosure configurations. The mass and energy

release of a range of source fires obtained from FSC, above, will be reproduced

in these tests. The instrumentation will monitor the various thermodynamic

variables throughout the enclosures. The tests will cover a range of geometrical

variables (length, width, and height ratios) and a range of fire severities,

so that the test results can be used to extrapolate to other situations and to

validate the computer code.

06/20/85 18 FIRE PROTECTION PLAN

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Project FED4 - Code validation and preparation of user package. The fire

environment computer code will be validated by comparison with the results of

the baseline test (FED3) and the control room validation tests (CR4). A complete package comprising the necessary software, a full listing of the program

statements, flow charts, and user instructions will then be developed.

Project FED5 - Computer Code Adaptation for Compartmented Enclosures. If the

computer code is deemed valid for an open enclosure, the code will be adapted

for the purpose studying the potential effects of a fire in the compartments

of the control room complex on the environment of the control room.

A.3 Fire Failure Thresholds (FFT)

Project FFTl - Selection of the equipment to be studied. RMIEP will input to

this project lists of critical fire areas in the La Salle plant and safe shutdown equipment within those areas. Equipment to be studied for the purpose of

determining fire failure thresholds will be selected on the basis of susceptibility to degradation of component materials in a fire or fire suppressant environment. The minimum requirements for operability for each class of selected

equipment will be determined.

Project FFT2 - Survey of existing information. Manufacturer's specifications,

laboratory research results, and other information on fire failure thresholds

of equipment will be collected. Likely sources such as EPRI, EEI, and the

national laboratories will be explored.

Project FFT3 - Fire failure threshold tests. Tests will be performed to fill

gaps in the knowledge on fire failure thresholds of shutdown and safety-related

equipment. The limiting parameters, e.g., temperature, heat flux, corrosive

species concentration will be determined. The effect of the duration of exposure, e.g., the time integrals of temperature and heat flux, will also be determined. Tests will expose selected equipment to extinguishing agents, such as

water and CO2 , in absence of fire to evaluate failure modes and thresholds.

06/20/85 19 FIRE PROTECTION PLAN

-- _0
Project FFT4 - Summary of results and testing methodologies. The testing

methodologies for the selected classes of equipment will be described and the

data base of fire and fire suppressant failure thresholds for such equipment

will be summarized.

A.4 Control Room Habitability and Fire Safety Study (CR)

Project CR1 - Control room cabinet fires. This project will determine the characteristics of fires within control room cabinets and the effects of such fires

on the environment in adjacent cabinets. It will develop the characteristics

(e.g., heat release rate, smoke generation rate) for several cabinet styles and

combustible loadings. This project will determine the range of exposure fires

within a cabinet required to fully involve the cabinet contents (cable insulation).

Project CR2 - Control room systems study. A :ontrol room systems analysis will

be performed, using typical plant configurati)ns, to determine fault propagation

through the system in the event of fire and the effects of these faults on the

operability of the safe shutdown equipment from the control room. Consideration

will be given to the electrical systems aspect of design which limit fault propagation, such as circuit-breaker devices, to the capability to control and monitor shutdown activities from a remote control panel, and to emergency procedures.

Project CR3 - Parametric study of control room fire environments. The development of fire and fire suppressant environments in a generic control room geometry will be studied with the aid of computer simulation. In order to assist

RMIEP, the initial study will be plant-specific, using the La Salle plant control room configuration. The energy and combustion products (smoke and toxic

gases included) of the fires obtained from the tests of Project CR! will be used

as input parameters to the computer code, as also various rates of ventilation.

The simulation will map the room environment parameters, such as temperature and

velocity. These maps will provide estimates of smoke and toxic product removal

times and periods of vision obscuration--quantities relevant to the habitability

of the control room. The study will also indicate the possibility of fire spread

to ordinary combustibles remote from the fire

06/20/85 20 FIRE PROTECTION PLAN

I
source and of the afterburn of excess pyrolyzates from the fuel in the hot ceiling layer. The findings of this study will be compared to the results of Project

CR4,

Control Room Validation Test, for qualitative agreement. The test is on a partial

replication only of control room configurations.

Project CR4 - Control Room Validation Tests. Fire testing of a partial replication control room is planned for the purpose of validation of the computer code

developed under Project FED2. The source fires will be reproductions of the cabinet fires of Project CR1. The enclosure will be instrumented to monitor the progressively developing environment. The results will supplement the data base developed under Project FED3 for validation of the code, but with emphasis on control

room type configurations in this project.

06/20/85 21 FIRE PROTECTION PLAN
B.I

APPENDIX B

COORDINATION WITH NRR/CMEB

Fire Source Characteristics (FSC).

1. Survey of prior Sandia fire tests: completed.

2. Survey of other existing research results: completed.

3. Fire Source Testing

CMEB to be informed of results of surveys (1,2,3), configurations to

be tested prior to test performance and subsequent test results.

Basis for configuration, and test objectives and products should be

included.

4. Summary of Fire Characteristics:

CMEB will review final draft prior to publication.

Fire Environment Determination (FED)

1. Fire Model and Computer Code Selection: completed.

2. Computer Code Adaptation: CMEB will review results.

3. Baseline testing:

CMEB will review test plan prior to execution. CMEB will be promptly

informed of test results. Test configuration, basis for configuration,

test objectives, and end products should be included with the test

results.

B.2

06/20/85 22 FIRE PROTECTION PLAN

I
4. Code validation:

CMEB will be informed of the validation results.

5. Combustion product migration:

If performed, CMEB will be informed of the results.

B.3 Fire Failure Threshold (FFT)

1. Identiffcation of equipment to be tested:

2. Survey of existing information:

3. Fire Failure Threshold Tests:

CMEB will be informed of equipment selected, their operability

requirements, and estimated fire failure thresholds.

Prior to testing, CMEB will review the test plan for each equipment

type selected. Test configuration, basis for configuration, test

objectives, and end products should be included in the test plan.

CMEB will be promptly be informed of the test results.

4. Summary of testing methodologies:

CMEB will review final draft prior to publication.

*U.S. GOVERNMNT PRINTING OFFICEt 1985-461-721v20228

06/20/85 23 FIRE PROTECTION PLAN
I
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TOEAM I MIME aI L EAVE vAIL

Nuclear Power Plant

Fire Protection Research Program . DA11 O

April 1 1985

A. Datta OF"

_July 1985

T.f E, FORMINO OSGANIOA?%IO MAMO flAIL04 £, DOtU Ono,* . ,Ir 4a. MO ftACTrI"tKN0RK Il NmI

Division of Engineering Technology

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research ,,,A,•,,,,NM,

US Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Washington, DC 20555

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,2 2"•LIMW£."51S T99Prepared in cooperation with the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation,

U.S., Nuclear Regulatory Commission!

. £hSTRAS R T U -- l

A program plan for nuclear power plant fire protection research has been presentedin this report. The principal objective of the program is to create a data base

that would reduce the uncertainties in fire probabilistic risk assessment of plants.

A three-pronged approach of characterization of potential fires, determination

of the ensuing environment, and determination of failure thresholds of safetyrelated equipment in that environment is described. The techniques are to be

applied to estimating the fire safety margin, available in a control room.

S. AVAILAUILITV 14 DOCC4EIdT ANALV3il - e. KEVWORfDS1DSClRVTlO

Fire energy release; fire environment; safety-related equipment;

control room.

b. 0SIF[IE~rSlIlOPlEI-INDEO TERqMS

Fire source characteristics; environment determination; component failure thresholds; control room

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UNITED STATES

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555

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POSTAGE & FEES PAID

USNRC

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PERMIT No. 0-67

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