Current Activities on the United States Nuclear Power Plants Fire Events

Database Project

Jessica Kratchman, Gabe Taylor, J.S. HyslopUnited States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research

Motivation

• Address The National Fire protection Association (NFPA) 805 Frequently-Asked-Question (FAQ) on fire ignition frequencies

• Consolidate NRC and industry databases• Improve completeness of reporting and

quality of fire event data not reaching the level to require reporting in database– For fire event data to NRC

Participants• Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and

Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)– Stake in FAQ on fire ignition frequency

• Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited (NEIL)– Collects data directly from licensees

US NRC Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research• US NRC Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES)– Provides results from two different databases for NRC

use, depending on the need– Stake in FAQ

• All parties interested in more complete reporting and higher quality data

Current NRC Database Usage

• Primarily for fire ignition frequencies and non-suppression probabilities– Ignition frequencies classify fires according to

“challenging” criteria• Ignition frequencies for NUREG/CR-6850 and

Fi P t ti Si ifi D t i tiFire Protection Significance Determination process (SDP) generally directed toward component frequencies for fire scenarios

• Fire frequencies also used on a room/area basis utilized in SDP evaluation of fire significance of internal events SSCs

Project Goals• Shorter term

– Update fire ignition frequencies include addition of 2001-2008 fire event data

– Trending of reportable fires (50.73/50.72) per Commission’s request to measureCommission s request to measure effectiveness of NRC Fire Protection Program

• Longer term – Future updates of frequencies and trending– Re-analysis of other PRA measures as

needed

Potential Improvements to OECD Database

• Reviews done for U.S. project identified potential improvements to OECD fire events database– Fire brigade response

• Source for improvementp– NEIL: Fire Incident Database Report Form, Nuclear

Supplement

– Examples include• Did smoke prevent personnel from entering the room where

fire occurred without protective clothing?

• Did smoke completely obscure the compartment preventing fire fighting activities?

Comparisons: NRC-RES and OECD Databases

• Once complete, comparisons between the OECD and RES-NRC frequencies are expected to be made:– Compare room based fire frequencies for

International versus US database

• Collaborate with partners to better understand the reasons for differences