Methods and criteria for evaluation of nuclear reactor fire protection alternatives and modifications

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

OSTI ID:6205295

Levinson, S H

The objective of this work is to develop a methodology for the evaluation of a fire protection system in a nuclear power plant and demonstrate the feasibility of encoding this method in a computer program. A Monte Carlo simulation has been developed; it is divided into the four phases of a fire scenario: ignition, detection, suppression and propagation. The ignition model consists of probabilistically determining at what location within the zone a fire will occur. The detection model is divided into two components. THe first is the automatic detection model, which calculates the fire's physical symptoms and compares them against the threshold values of the detectors specified for the zone to determine a time-to-detection. The second part is the human detection model; this evaluates the time required for a human to observe and report a fire. If detection is successful, the suppression mode determines if the fire is effectively extinguished, and if so, the time required to do so. This model is also divided into an automatic and human component. The propagation model is embedded in a deterministic, control-volume computer code which calculates the fire scenario history. A computer program, FIRES, is described which supports the developed models. FIRES is an interactive graphics package providing a simple means of establishing the many input parameters. In addition to allowing parameter values to be easily set or modified, the graphics provides a convenient display mode for the results of a simulation.

• Research Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, NY (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6205295
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220900* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Reactor Safety
COMPUTER CODES
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
F CODES
FIRE FIGHTING
FIRE PREVENTION
FLAME PROPAGATION
HUMAN FACTORS
IGNITION
MONTE CARLO METHOD
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
POWER PLANTS
REACTOR SAFETY
SAFETY
SIMULATION
THERMAL POWER PLANTS