Pertinence of tests used for conformity assessments of fire resistance of nuclear power plant components – opinion of several institutions in Europe
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C. Bruynooghe
Abstract
Fire resistance of structures, systems and components (SSC) is widely identified as a fundamental issue for fire risk assessment at nuclear power plants (NPP). It is currently supported by several national or international ambitious experimental programs. Fire risk assessment at NPPs is performed under a series of hypothesis, e.g. the fire load. A problem will arise if tests used for conformity assessment do not appropriately represent the hypothesis selected during the fire risk analysis. In this case, SSCs may possibly be not meeting the expectations related to their fire resistance capacity supposed by the fire risk analysis. Ways of tackling this issue involve a regulatory approach and adapted requirements for components. While the widespread regulatory approach consists in seeking enveloping scenarios and conservative assumptions, a better knowledge of SSCs behaviour under for NPPs typical situations may be also desirable. The Institute for Energy of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) at Petten (NL) launched a questionnaire with the aim of gathering opinions of regulatory bodies and their technical support organisations and manufacturers in Europe on this topic. Major goal was to estimate the relevance of the issue according to the perception of the specialists. The present paper collects the answers given by seven entities (AREVA, GRS, iBMB, IRSN, SJUB, SUEZ-TRACTEBEL, and VTT) and makes suggestions for addressing the issues identified by the participants.
Kurzfassung
Brandwiderstandsfähigkeit von Bauteilen, Systemen und Komponenten wird allgemein als ein grundlegendes Element der Brandrisikobewertung von Kernkraftwerken angesehen. Dieses Thema wird gegenwärtig durch zahlreiche nationale und internationale Experimente unterstützt. Brandrisikobewertung wird auf der Basis von Annahmen vorgenommen, z.B. die Brandlast. Ein Problem tritt auf, wenn die Tests, die zum Nachweis der Konformität durchgeführt werden, nicht in geeigneter Weise die Annahmen repräsentieren, die in den Analysen angesetzt werden. In solchen Fällen können die Bauteile, Systeme und Komponenten möglicherweise die Erwartungen hinsichtlich ihrer Brandwiderstandsfähigkeit nicht erfüllen, wie sie in den Brandrisikoanalysen unterstellt werden. Um mit diesem Problem umzugehen, sind ein regulatorischer Ansatz und entsprechende Anforderungen an die Komponenten erforderlich. Üblicherweise besteht der regulatorische Ansatz in der Ermittlung abdeckender Szenarios und konservativer Annahmen. Um realistischer das Verhalten von Bauteilen, Systemen und Komponenten in Kernkraftwerken in typischen Situationen beurteilen zu können, ist eine detailliertere Kenntnis hilfreich. Vor diesem Hintergrund hatte das JRC in Petten einen Fragebogen herausgegeben mit dem Ziel, die Meinungen von Behörden, Gutachtern und Herstellern in Europa zu diesem Aspekt zu ermitteln mit dem Ziel, eine Abschätzung der Relevanz aus Sicht der Experten zu gewinnen. Der vorliegende Beitrag stellt die Antworten von sieben Institutionen zusammen und diskutiert Vorschläge für die Aspekte, die von den Teilnehmern identifiziert wurden.
References
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© 2010, Carl Hanser Verlag, München
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Contents/Inhalt
- Contents
- Summaries/Kurzfassungen
- Summaries
- Technical Contributions/Fachbeiträge
- Adaptation of the FEMAXI-6 code and RBMK fuel rods model testing employing the best estimate approach
- In-reactor measurements of fuel centerline temperature variation during power change
- Pertinence of tests used for conformity assessments of fire resistance of nuclear power plant components – opinion of several institutions in Europe
- Analysis of the instability of OTSG of movable nuclear power devices by using the multivariable frequency domain method
- Steady state thermal hydraulic calculations for MTR plate-type research reactors
- Production cross sections of medical 110,111In radionuclides
- Nuclear level density parameters of some largely deformed nuclei of medical radionuclides in low-lying collective excitation modes
- A discrete ordinates operator for the diffuse transmission of a mixed neutron beam through a multilayered medium
- Kritikalitätssicherheit der Endlagerung ausgedienter Kernbrennstoffe
- Technical Notes/Technische Mitteilungen
- Methods for thin foil thickness determination by using alpha spectroscopy
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Contents/Inhalt
- Contents
- Summaries/Kurzfassungen
- Summaries
- Technical Contributions/Fachbeiträge
- Adaptation of the FEMAXI-6 code and RBMK fuel rods model testing employing the best estimate approach
- In-reactor measurements of fuel centerline temperature variation during power change
- Pertinence of tests used for conformity assessments of fire resistance of nuclear power plant components – opinion of several institutions in Europe
- Analysis of the instability of OTSG of movable nuclear power devices by using the multivariable frequency domain method
- Steady state thermal hydraulic calculations for MTR plate-type research reactors
- Production cross sections of medical 110,111In radionuclides
- Nuclear level density parameters of some largely deformed nuclei of medical radionuclides in low-lying collective excitation modes
- A discrete ordinates operator for the diffuse transmission of a mixed neutron beam through a multilayered medium
- Kritikalitätssicherheit der Endlagerung ausgedienter Kernbrennstoffe
- Technical Notes/Technische Mitteilungen
- Methods for thin foil thickness determination by using alpha spectroscopy
