Statistical characterization of the time to reach peak heat release rate for nuclear power plant electrical enclosure fires1

Publication date: September 2017
Source:Fire Safety Journal, Volume 92
Author(s): Raymond H.V. Gallucci
Since publication of NUREG/CR-6850 (EPRI 1011989), EPRI/NRC-RES Fire PRA Methodology for Nuclear Power Facilities in 2005, phenomenological modeling of fire growth to peak heat release rate (HRR) for electrical enclosure fires in nuclear power plant probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) has typically assumed an average 12-min rise time [1]. One previous analysis using the data from NUREG/CR-6850 from which this estimate derived indicated this could be represented by a gamma distribution with alpha (shape) and beta (scale) parameters of 8.66 and 1.31, respectively [2]. Completion of the test program by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) for electrical enclosure heat release rates, documented in NUREG/CR-7197, Heat Release Rates of Electrical Enclosure Fires (HELEN-FIRE) in 2016, has provided substantially more data from which to characterize this growth time to peak HRR [3]. From these, the author develops probabilistic distributions that enhance the original NUREG/CR-6850 results for both qualified and unqualified cables.² The mean times to peak HRR are 13.3 and 10.1 min, respectively, with a mean of 12.4 min when all data are combined, confirming that the original NUREG/CR-6850 estimate of 12 min was quite reasonable.Via statistical-probabilistic analysis, the author shows that the time to peak HRR for qualified and unqualified cables can again be well represented by gamma distributions with alpha and beta parameters of 1.88 and 7.07, and 3.86 and 2.62, respectively. Working with the gamma distribution for All cables given the two cable types, the author performs simulations demonstrating that non-suppression probabilities, on average, are 30% and 10% higher than the use of a 12-min point estimate when the fire is assumed to be detected at its start and halfway between its start and the time it reaches its peak, respectively. This suggests that adopting a probabilistic approach enables more realistic modeling of this particular fire phenomenon (growth time).



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