An Experimental Study on the Combustion Characteristics of Non Class 1E Cables

Abstract

The occurrence of a cable fire in a nuclear power plant can cause significant damage to the internal equipment and the defense system, and even reactor melt down in the worst case. In addition, toxic gases, released by burning cable jacket and insulation materials, can hinder human evacuation and fire fighting activities. Thus, this experimental study was conducted to investigate the toxicity of two non-class 1E cables which are applied to the nuclear power plants in Korea. Experiments were conducted for two kinds of cables according to the standard code of ISO 19702, and time series heat release rate, total heat release, and the concentration of toxic gases including CO, CO2, HCl, HCN, HBr, HF, NOx and SO2 were measured From the test results, the similar characteristics between heat release rate and CO2 emission and production of a small amount of halogenated compounds in emission gas caused by addition of fireproof components have been found. These results can be used as baseline data when assessing combustion characteristics and human toxicity of electric cables.