- Author
-
Cooper, L. Y.
|
Steckler, K. D.
- Title
- Methodology for Developing and Implementing Alternative Temperature-Time Curves for Testing the Fire Resistance of Barriers for Nuclear Power Plant Applications.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Sponsor
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
- Report
-
NISTIR 5842,
May 1996,
116 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
-
nuclear power plants
|
ASTM E119
|
cables
|
fire barriers
|
fire endurance
|
fire models
|
fire resistance
|
histories
|
temperature
|
zone models
- Identifiers
- history and use of the ASTM standard temperature-time curve; history and use of alternative temperature-time curves; feasibility of developing and implementing NPP-specific descritptions of fire environments for use in evaluating the fire resistance of fire barriers
- Abstract
- Advances in fire science over the past 40 years have offered the potential for developing technically-sound alternative temperature-time curves for use in evaluating fire barriers for areas where fire exposures can be expected to be significantly different than the ASTM E119, standard, temperature-time exposure. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff initiated the current effort to investigate the feasibility of developing alternative temperature-time curves for the qualification of fire barriers used to protect cabling and equipment necessary to achieve safe shutdown on the basis of realistic fire hazards found in nuclear power plants (NPPs). The approach taken in the current study consists of three steps or tasks: 1) review the history of the ASTM E119 temperature-time curve to assess its current applicability and limitations in simulating real fires; 2) review the history of efforts to develop alternative curves and the methodologies used; and 3) use the findings from (1) and (2), knowledge of NPP construction, fuel types and loads, and state-of-the-art fire science to propose a methodology for developing and implementing NPP-specific descriptions of fire environments and associated ASTM-type temperature-time curves and test methods. Results of each task are reported. The proposed methodology calls for a combination of zone modeling and large-scale fire experiments.