Fire Dynamics Tools (FDTs)

Quantitative Fire Hazard

Analysis Methods for the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission Fire Protection
Inspection Program

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Washington, DC 20555-0001
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 NUREG-1805

Fire Dynamics Tools (FDT s):

Quantitative Fire Hazard

Analysis Methods for the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Fire Protection Inspection Program

Final Report
Manuscript Completed: October 2004
Date Published: December 2004

Prepared by
Naeem Iqbal, Mark Henry Salley

Sunil W eerakkody, NRC Project Manager

Prepared for
Division of System Safety and Analysis
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001
 ABSTRACT

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR),
Division of Systems Safety and Analysis (DSSA), Plant Systems Branch (SPLB), Fire Protection
Engineering and Special Projects Section, has developed quantitative methods, known as
“Fire Dynamics Tools” (FDT s ), to assist regional fire protection inspectors in performing fire hazard
analysis (FHA). These methods have been implemented in spreadsheets and taught at the NRC’s
quarterly regional inspector workshops. FDT s were developed using state-of-the-art fire dynamics
equations and correlations that were preprogrammed and locked into Microsoft Excel®
spreadsheets. These FDT s will enable the inspector to perform quick, easy, first-order calculations
for the potential fire scenarios using today’s state-of-the-art principles of fire dynamics. Each FDT s
spreadsheet also contains a list of the physical and thermal properties of the materials commonly
encountered in nuclear power plants. This NUREG-series report addresses the technical bases
for FDT s , which were derived from the principles developed primarily in the Society of Fire
Protection Engineers (SFPE) Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA) Fire Protection Handbook, and other fire science literature. The subject matter
of this report covers many aspects of fire dynamics and contains descriptions of the most important
fire processes. A significant number of examples, reference tables, illustrations, and conceptual
drawings are presented in this report to expand the inspector’s appreciation in visualizing and
retaining the material and understanding calculation methods.

iii
iv
 CONTENTS
Page
Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii

List of Fire Dynamics Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxvii

Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxi

The Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxiii

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxv

Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxvii

How To Use this NUREG and the FDT s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxix

Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xli

Nomenclature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xlvii

Chapter 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1

1.1 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
1.2 Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
1.3 Regulatory Background on Fire Protection for Nuclear Power Plants 1-1
1.4 Fire Hazard Analysis for Nuclear Power Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
1.5 Fire Protection Inspection Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
1.6 Fire Scenario Development for Nuclear Power Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
1.7 Process of Fire Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
1.8 The Fire Hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
1.8.1 Combustible Materials Found in Nuclear Power Plants . . . . . 1-7
1.8.1.1 Transient Combustibles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
1.8.1.2 In Situ Combustibles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
1.8.1.3 Liquid Fuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
1.8.1.4 Explosive and Flammable Gases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
1.9 Location of the Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
1.10 Risk-Informed Performance-Based Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
1.11 Data Sources for Combustible Materials Found in Nuclear Power Plants 1-10
1.12 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
1.13 Additional Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13

v
 CONTENTS (continued)
Chapter 2. Predicting Hot Gas Layer Temperature and Smoke Layer Height in a Room Fire
with Natural and Forced Ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
2.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
2.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
2.3 Compartment Fire Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
2.3.1 Stages of Compartment Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
2.3.2 Ventilation-Limited or Ventilation-Controlled Fires . . . . . . . . . 2-4
2.3.3 Fuel-Limited Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
2.4 Compartment Ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
2.4.1 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
2.5 Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
2.6 Estimating Hot Gas Layer Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
2.6.1 Natural Ventilation: Method of McCaffrey, Quintiere, and
Harkleroad (MQH) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
2.6.2 Natural Ventilation (Compartment Closed): Method of Beyler . 2-12
2.6.3 Forced Ventilation: Method of Foote, Pagni, and Alvares (FPA) 2-12
2.6.4 Forced Ventilation: Method of Deal and Beyler . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
2.7 Estimating Smoke Layer Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14
2.7.1 Smoke Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15
2.7.2 Smoke Layer Interface Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15
2.7.3 Natural Ventilation (Smoke Filling):
The Non-Steady-State Yamana and Tanaka Method . . . . . . 2-15
2.8 Data Sources for Heat Release Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17
2.9 Identification of Fire Scenario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-19
2.10 Assumption and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-23
2.11 Required Input for Spreadsheet Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-24
2.12 Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-25
2.13 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-25
2.14 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-26
2.15 Additional Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-28
2.16 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-29

vi
 CONTENTS (continued)
Chapter 3. Estimating Burning Characteristics of Liquid Pool Fire, Heat Release Rate,
Burning Duration, and Flame Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
3.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
3.2 Heat Release Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
3.2.1 Enclosure Effects on Mass Loss Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
3.2.2 Pool Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
3.3 Burning Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
3.3.1 Burning Duration of a Pool Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
3.4 Flame Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
3.4.1 Flame Extensions Under Ceiling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12
3.4.2 Flame Impingement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12
3.4.3 Flame Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12
3.4.4 Flames Temperatures of Open Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
3.4.5 Flame Temperatures in Room Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
3.4.6 Adiabatic Flame Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-15
3.4.7 Temperatures of Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-16
3.4.8 Flame Height Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-16
3.5 Assumptions and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-18
3.6 Required Input for Spreadsheet Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19
3.7 Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19
3.8 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19
3.9 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-20
3.10 Additional Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-21
3.11 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-22

Chapter 4. Estimating Wall Fire Flame Height, Line Fire Flame Height Against the Wall,
and Corner Fire Flame Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
4.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
4.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
4.3 Flame Height Correlations for Wall Fires, Line Fires, and Corner Fires 4-1
4.3.1 Wall Fire Flame Height Correlation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
4.3.2 Line Fire Flame Height Correlation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
4.3.3 Corner Fire Flame Height Correlation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
4.4 Assumptions and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
4.5 Required Input for Spreadsheet Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
4.6 Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
4.7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
4.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
4.9 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7

vii
 CONTENTS (continued)
Chapter 5. Estimating Radiant Heat Flux from Fire to a Target Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
5.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
5.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
5.3 Critical Heat Flux to a Target . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
5.3.1 Point Source Radiation Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
5.3.2 Solid Flame Radiation Model with Target At and Above
Ground Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5
5.3.2.1 Emissive Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
5.3.2.2 Configuration Factor F 162 under Wind-Free Conditions 5-7
5.3.2.3 Configuration Factor F 1 6 2 in Presence of Wind . . . 5-11
5.4 Method of Estimating Thermal Radiation from Hydrocarbon Fireball . . 5-15
5.4.1 Radiation Due to BLEVEs with Accompanying Fireball . . . . . 5-15
5.5 Assumptions and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17
5.6 Required Input for Spreadsheet Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17
5.7 Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-18
5.8 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-18
5.9 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-19
5.10 Additional Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-20
5.11 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21

Chapter 6. Estimating the Ignition Time of a Target Fuel

Exposed to a Constant Radiative Heat Flux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1
6.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1
6.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1
6.3 Ignition Sources and Fire Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
6.4 Ignition Time for Thermally Thick Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6-3
6.4.1 Method of Tewarson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4
6.4.2 Method of Mikkola and Wichman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8
6.4.3 Method of Quintiere and Harkleroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8
6.4.4 Method of Janssens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9
6.4.5 Method of Toal, Silcock, and Shields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-12
6.5 Assumptions and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-14
6.6 Required Input for Spreadsheet Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-14
6.7 Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-14
6.8 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-14
6.9 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-15
6.10 Additional Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-15
6.11 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-16

viii
 CONTENTS (continued)
Chapter 7. Estimating the Full-Scale Heat Release Rate of a Cable Tray Fire . . . . . . . . 7-1
7.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1
7.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1
7.3 Cable Tray Fire Burning Mode Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
7.4 Cable Tray Heat Release Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
7.5 Cable Failure Criteria (Critical Temperature and Critical Heat Flux) . . 7-5
7.6 Assumptions and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
7.7 Required Input for Spreadsheet Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
7.8 Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
7.9 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
7.10 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-7
7.11 Additional Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-7
7.12 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8

Chapter 8. Estimating Burning Duration of Solid Combustibles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1

8.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
8.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
8.3 Burning Duration of Solid Combustibles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
8.4 Assumptions and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
8.5 Required Input for Spreadsheet Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
8.6 Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
8.7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
8.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
8.9 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5

Chapter 9. Estimating the Centerline Temperature of a Buoyant Fire Plume . . . . . . . . . . 9-1

9.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-1
9.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-1
9.3 Fire Plume Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
9.3.1 Plume Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4
9.4 Application for Centerline Fire Plume Correlation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
9.5 Assumptions and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
9.6 Required Input for Spreadsheet Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
9.7 Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
9.8 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
9.9 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9
9.10 Additional Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9
9.11 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-10

ix
 CONTENTS (continued)
Chapter 10. Estimating Sprinkler Response Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-1
10.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-1
10.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-1
10.3 Operating Principles of Automatic Sprinklers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
10.3.1 Heat Transfer Characteristics for Heat-Sensitive Elements . 10-4
10.3.2 Sprinkler Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-5
10.3.3 Temperature Ratings of Automatic Sprinklers . . . . . . . . . . . 10-6
10.3.4 Sprinkler Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-9
10.3.5 Sprinkler Spray Interaction with Plume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11
10.4 Assumptions and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-12
10.5 Required Input for Spreadsheet Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-12
10.6 Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-13
10.7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-13
10.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-13
10.9 Additional Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-14
10.10 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-15

Chapter 11. Estimating Smoke Detector Response Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-1

11.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-1
11.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-1
11.3 Characteristics of Smoke Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-2
11.4 Operating Principles of Smoke Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-3
11.5 Smoke Detector Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-6
11.5.1 Method of Alpert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-7
11.5.2 Method of Mowrer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-9
11.5.3 Method of Milke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-10
11.6 Assumptions and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-11
11.7 Required Input for Spreadsheet Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-12
11.8 Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-12
11.9 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-12
11.10 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-13
11.11 Additional Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-13
11.12 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-14

x
 CONTENTS (continued)
Chapter 12. Estimating Heat Detector Response Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-1
12.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-1
12.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-1
12.3 Underwriters’ Laboratories, Inc., Listing Information
for Heat-Detecting Automatic Fire Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-1
12.4 Operating Principle of Heat Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-2
12.4.1 Fixed-Temperature Heat Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-3
12.4.1.1 Fusible-Element Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-3
12.4.1.2 Continuous Line Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-3
12.4.1.3 Bimetallic Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-3
12.4.2 Rate Compensation Heat Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-4
12.4.3 Rate-of-Rise Heat Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-4
12.4.4 Pneumatic Heat Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-4
12.4.4.1 Line-Type Heat Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-5
12.4.5 Combination Heat Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-5
12.4.6 Electronic Spot-Type Thermal Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-5
12.5 Fixed-Temperature Heat Detector Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-6
12.6 Assumptions and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-10
12.7 Required Input for Spreadsheet Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-11
12.8 Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-11
12.9 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-11
12.10 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-12
12.11 Additional Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-12
12.12 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-13

Chapter 13. Predicting Compartment Flashover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-1

13.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-1
13.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-1
13.3 Compartment Flashover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-5
13.3.1 Method of Predicting Compartment Flashover . . . . . . . . . . 13-5
13.3.1.1 Method of McCaffrey, Quintiere, and Harkleroad
(MQH) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-5
13.3.1.2 Method of Babrauskas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-6
13.3.1.3 Method of Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-6
13.3.2 Method of Predicting Compartment Post-Flashover Temperature 13-7
13.4 Fire Severity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-8
13.4.1 Method of Margaret Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-8
13.5 Assumptions and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-10
13.6 Required Input for Spreadsheet Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-10
13.7 Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-10
13.8 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-10
13.9 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-11
13.10 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-13

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 CONTENTS (continued)
Chapter 14. Estimating Pressure Rise Attributable to a Fire in a Closed Compartment . 14-1
14.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-1
14.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-1
14.3 Definition of Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
14.4 Pressure Rise Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-3
14.5 Assumptions and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-3
14.6 Required Input for Spreadsheet Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-4
14.7 Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-4
14.8 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-4
14.9 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-4
14.10 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-5

Chapter 15. Estimating the Pressure Increase and Explosive Energy Release
Associated with Explosions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-1
15.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-1
15.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-1
15.3 Explosion Hazard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-3
15.4 Explosive Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-4
15.5 Backdraft Explosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-4
15.6 Smoke Explosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-4
15.7 Unconfined and Confined Explosions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-5
15.8 Estimating the Effects of Explosions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-7
15.8.1 Estimating Explosive Energy Release in a Confined Explosion 15-9
15.8.2 TNT Mass Equivalent Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-10
15.8.3 Blast Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-11
15.9 Effects of Pressure on Humans and Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-12
15.10 Effects of Pressure on Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-13
15.11 Estimating the Pressure Increase Attributable to a Confined Explosion 15-14
15.12 Assumptions and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-15
15.13 Required Input for Spreadsheet Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-15
15.14 Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-15
15.15 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-16
15.16 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-17
15.17 Additional Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-17
15.18 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-18

xii
 CONTENTS (continued)
Chapter 16. Calculating the Rate of Hydrogen Gas Generation in Battery Rooms . . . . . 16-1
16.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-1
16.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-1
16.3 Combustion of Hydrogen Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-2
16.4 Ignition of Hydrogen Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-4
16.4.1 Battery as an Ignition Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-5
16.4.2 Control of Hydrogen Gas Combustion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-5
16.5 Fire Protection Code Requirements for Battery Rooms . . . . . . . . . . 16-6
16.6 Method of Calculating the Rate of Hydrogen Generation in Battery Rooms 16-7
16.7 Method of Calculating Flammable Gas and Vapor Concentration
Buildup in Enclosed Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-8
16.8 Method of Calculating Flammable Gas and Vapor Concentration
Buildup Time in Enclosed Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-9
16.9 Assumptions and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-10
16.10 Required Input for Spreadsheet Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-10
16.11 Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-11
16.12 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-11
16.13 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-12
16.14 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-13

Chapter 17. Calculating the Fire Resistance of Structural Steel Members . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-1
17.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-1
17.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-1
17.3 Fire Resistance of Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-3
17.4 Fire Resistance of Structural Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-5
17.4.1 Fire Resistance and Temperature Limits of Steel Elements 17-5
17.4.2 Fire Resistance and Temperature Limits of Reinforced Concrete
Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-5
17.5 Failure Criteria for Structural Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-6
17.6 Fire Walls and Fire Barrier W alls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-7
17.7 Fire Resistance Coatings for Structural Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-8
17.8 Calculating Fire Resistance or Endurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-10
17.8.1 Equivalent Fire Resistance of Structural Steel . . . . . . . . . . 17-10
17.8.2 Steel Column (Unprotected) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-11
17.8.3 Steel Column (Protected with Gypsum Wallboard) . . . . . . 17-12
17.8.4 Steel Column (with Low-Density Protection) . . . . . . . . . . . 17-13
17.8.5 Steel Column (Protected with Spray-On Materials) . . . . . . 17-14
17.8.6 Steel Column (Protected by Concrete) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-15
17.8.7 Steel Beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-16
17.8.7.1 Beam Substitution Correlation for Structural Steel
Beams Protected by Spray-On Materials . . . . . . 17-17
17.8.7.2 Column Substitution Correlation for Structural Steel
Columns Protected by Spray-On Materials . . . . 17-18

xiii
 CONTENTS (continued)
17.8.8 Numerical Method to Estimate the Temperature Increase
in Structural Steel Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-18
17.8.8.1 Unprotected Structural Steel Sections . . . . . . . . 17-19
17.8.8.2 Protected Structural Steel Sections . . . . . . . . . . 17-21
17.9 Assumptions and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-23
17.10 Required Input for Spreadsheet Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-23
17.11 Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-23
17.12 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-23
17.13 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-24
17.14 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-25

Chapter 18. Estimating Visibility Through Smoke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-1

18.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-1
18.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-1
18.3 Smoke Obscuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-1
18.4 Effect of Smoke on Nuclear Power Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-2
18.5 Estimating Visibility Through Smoke — Jin Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-2
18.6 Assumptions and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-5
18.7 Required Input for Spreadsheet Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-5
18.8 Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-5
18.9 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-6
18.10 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-6
18.10 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-7

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Index-1

xiv
 Appendices

Page
A. Nuclear Power Plant Electrical Cable Fundamentals . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . A-1
A.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . A-1
A.2 Electrical Cable Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . A-2
A.3 Description of Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . A-3
A.4 Cable Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . A-7
A.4.1 Thermoplastic Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . A-7
A.4.2 Thermoset Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . A-8
A.5 Cable Failure Threshold and Time to Damage . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . A-9
A.5.1 Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . A-9
A.5.2 Temperature Thresholds — Thermoset Cables . . . . ....... . . . . . . A-9
A.5.3 Temperature Thresholds — Thermoplastic Cables . ....... . . . . . A-12
A.5.4 Radiant Heating Failure Criteria — Cables . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . A-14
A.5.5 Basis for Cable Damage Timing Estimates . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . A-15
A.5.6 Temperature Exposures — Thermoset Cables . . . . . ....... . . . . . A-15
A.5.7 Temperature Exposures — Thermoplastic Cables . . ....... . . . . . A-17
A.5.8 Radiant Exposures — Thermoset and Thermoplastic Cables . . . . . A-19
A.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . A-20
A.7 Additional Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . A-20

B. Fundamentals of Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-1

B.1 T-Squared (t 2 ) Fire Power Law Heat Release Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-1
B.1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-1
B.1.2 t2 Heat Release Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-1
B.1.3 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-10
B.2 Elements of Hydraulic and Electrical Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-11
B.2.1 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-12
B.3 Classes of Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-13
B.3.1 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-13
B.4 Classification of Hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-14
B.4.1 Light (Low) Hazard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-14
B.4.2 Ordinary (Moderate) Hazard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-14
B.4.3 Extra (High) Hazard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-14
B.4.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-14
B.5 Classes of Fires and Extinguishing Agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-15
B.6 Classification of Flammable and Combustible Liquids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-17
B.6.1 Flammable Liquid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-17
B.6.2 Combustible Liquid Classifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-18
B.6.3 Storage of Flammable and Combustible Liquids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-20
B.6.4 Flammable Combustible Storage Cabinets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-21
B.6.5 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-21
B.6.6 Hazardous Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-22
B.6.7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-23
B.7 Classification of Flammable Gases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-24
B.7.1 Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-24
B.7.2 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-24
B.7.3 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-24

xv
 Appendices (continued)

B.8 Flammability Hazards of Gases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-25

B.8.1 Flammability Potential of Gases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-25
B.8.2 Flammability Potential of Hydrogen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-26
B.8.3 Flammable Limits, Detonable Limits, and Potential for
Deflagration-to-Detonation Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-26
B.8.4 Flammable Gas Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-26
B.8.5 Explosion Prevention Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-27
B.8.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-28
B.9 Combustion Properties of Pure Metals in Solid Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-29
B.9.1 Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-30
B.10 Extinguishing Agents for Metal Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-31
B.10.1 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-32
B.11 Occupancy Classification and Use Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-32
B.11.1 Occupancy Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-32
B.11.2 Special Use and Occupancy Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-34
B.11.3 Code Advances/Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-34
B.11.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-35
B.12 Building Limitations and Types of Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-36
B.12.1 Types of Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-36
B.12.2 Five Construction Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-37
B.12.3 Fire Resistance Ratings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-38
B.12.4 Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-38
B.13 Deep-Seated Fires in Class A Solid Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-39
B.13.1 General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-39
B.13.2 Deep-Seated Cable Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-40
B.13.3 Deep-Seated Charcoal Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-40
B.13.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-40
B.14 Special Hazard Gaseous Fire Extinguishing Agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-41
B.14.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-41
B.14.2 Halogenated Agent Extinguishing Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-41
B.14.3 Carbon Dioxide Fire Extinguishing Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-53
B.14.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-41
B.15 Dry Chemical Extinguishing Agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-55
B.15.1 Hazards Associated with Dry Chemicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-57
B.15.2 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-57
B.16 Fire Protection Using Foam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-58
B.16.1 Properties of Foam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-59
B.16.2 Hazards Associated with Foam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-60
B.16.3 Delivery Systems for Foam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-60
B.16.4 Application of Foam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-61
B.16.5 Types of Foam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-62
B.16.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-65
B.16.7 Additional Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-65

xvi
 Appendices (continued)

B.17 Harmful Properties of Toxic Gases Found in Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-66

B.17.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-66
B.17.2 Smoke and Toxic Gases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-67
B.17.3 Toxicity Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-69
B.17.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-71
B.18 Effects of Decomposition Products of Halogenated Fire Extinguishing Agents . . B-72
B.18.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-72
B.18.2 Toxicity of Decomposition Products
of Halogenated Fire Suppression Agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-73
B.18.3 Physical Properties of Halon 1301 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-75
B.18.4 Physical Properties of Halon 1211 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-76
B.18.5 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-77
B.19 An Introduction to Computer Fire Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-78
B.19.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-78
B.19.2 Categories of Computer Fire Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-79
B.19.3 Limitations and Uncertainties Associated with Computer Fire Modeling B-84
B.19.4 Fire Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-85
B.19.5 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-89
B.19.6 Additional Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-89

C. Sources of Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-1

C.1 Heat Sources . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-1
C.2 Incident Heat . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-3
C.3 Target Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-4
C.4 Flame/Heat Growth . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-5
C.5 Fire Resistance . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-6
C.6 Fire Resistance/Endurance Ratings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-8
C.7 Fire Test Standards . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-15

D. NRC Documents Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-1

D.1 Code of Federal Regulations Related to Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-1
D.2 Branch Technical Positions Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-2
D.3 NRC Regulatory Guides Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-3
D.4 NRC Generic Communications Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-5
D.4.1 NRC Administrative Letters Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . D-5
D.4.2 NRC Bulletins Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-6
D.4.3 NRC Circulars Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-7
D.4.4 NRC Generic Letters Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-8
D.4.5 NRC Information Notices Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-10
D.4.6 NRC Regulatory Issue Summaries Related to Fire Protection . . . . . D-16
D.5 Commission (SECY) Papers Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-17
D.6 NRC Preliminary Notifications Related to Fire Incidents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-21
D.7 NRC Miscellaneous Documents Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-24
D.8 NRR Staff Presentations and Publications Related to Fire Protection . . . . . D-27

xvii
 Appendices (continued)

D.9 NRC Technical Reports in the NUREG Series Related to Nuclear Power Plant
Fire Protection Engineering Research and Development (R&D) . . . . . . . . . D-28
D.10 Safety Evaluation Reports Related to License Renewal
for Operating Nuclear Power Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-45
D.11 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Codes and Standards
for Nuclear Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-46

E. Current National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Codes and Standards . . . . . . . E-1

F. Glossary of Fire Protection Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F-1

G. Abbreviations Used in Fire Protection Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G-1

H. Selected U.S. Commercial Nuclear Power Plant Fire Incidents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H-1

H.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H-1
H.2 San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Unit 1,
February 7 and March 12, 1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . H-6
H.3 Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 1, March 22, 1975 . . . . .. . . . . . . . H-8
H.4 North Anna Power Station, Unit 2, July 3, 1981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . H-11
H.5 Rancho Seco, March 19, 1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . H-12
H.6 Waterford Steam Electric Station, Unit 3, June 26, 1985 . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . H-13
H.7 Fort St. Vrain Nuclear Generating Station, October 2, 1987 . . . . . .. . . . . . . H-14
H.8 Oconee Nuclear Station, Unit 1, January 3, 1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . H-15
H.9 H.B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant, Unit 2, January 7, 1989 . . . .. . . . . . . H-16
H.10 Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 2, March 1, 1989 . . . . . . .. . . . . . . H-17
H.11 Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant, October 9, 1989 . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . H-18
H.12 Salem Generating Station Unit 2, November 9, 1991 . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . H-20
H.13 Waterford Steam Electric Station Unit 3, June 10, 1995 . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . H-21
H.14 Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station Unit 2, April 4, 1996 . . . . .. . . . . . . H-24
H.15 San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Unit 3, February 3, 2001 . . . . . . . H-26
H.16 Point Beach Nuclear Plant, Unit 1, April 24, 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . H-29
H.17 Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, Unit 1, August 3, 2001 . .. . . . . . . H-30
H.18 Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1, December 19, 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . H-32

xviii
 Appendices (continued)

I. Mathematics Review and System of Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-1

I.1 Mathematics Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-1
I.1.1 Units of Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-1
I.1.2 Math Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-6
I.1.3 Solving Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-8
I.1.4 Caution with DT Conversions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-10
I.1.5 Miscellaneous Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-11
I.1.6 Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-12
I.2 Notation Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-13
I.2.1 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-13
I.3 System of Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-14
I.3.1 Length, Area, and Volume Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-14
I.3.2 Mass and Density Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-14
I.3.3 Time Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-14
I.3.4 Force and Pressure Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-15
I.3.5 Energy Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-15
I.3.6 Power Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-15
I.3.7 Temperature Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-16
I.3.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-16
I.4 Physical Constants for General Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-17
I.4.1 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-17

J. Practice Problems and Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J-1

xix
 Figures

Page
1-1 Physical Process of Combustion and Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
1-2 The Fire Triangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5

2-1 Typical Stages of Fire Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2

2-2 Stages of Compartment Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
2-3 Types of Mechanical Ventilation Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
2-4 Smoke Filling In a Compartment Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15
2-5 General Representation of Heat Release Rate Histories for a Fuel Package . . . . . 2-18

3-1 A Simple Design Fire Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2

3-2 Dynamic Features of a Pool Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
3-3 Temperature Distribution in the Flame of a Burning Candle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
3-4 Diffusion Flame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
3-5 Premixed Flame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
3-6 Laminar Diffusion Flame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
3-7 Turbulent Premixed Flames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11
3-8 Flame Extensions with a Free-Burning Flame and Under a Smooth Ceiling . . . . . . 3-13
3-9 Characteristics of Flame Height Fluctuations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-16

4-1 Wall Fire Flame Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3

4-2 Line Fire Flame Against a Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
4-3 Corner Fire Flame Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4

5-1 Radiant Heat Flux from a Pool Fire to a Floor-Based Target Fuel (Point Source Model) . . 5-4
5-2 Solid Flame Radiation Model with No Wind and Target at Ground Level . . . . . . . . . . 5-5
5-3 Solid Flame Radiation Model with No Wind and Target Above Ground . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
5-4 Cylindrical Flame Shape Configuration Factor Geometry for Vertical and Horizontal
Targets at Ground Level with No Wind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
5-5 Cylindrical Flame Shape Configuration Factor Geometry for Vertical and Horizontal
Targets Above Ground with No Wind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
5-6 Solid Flame Radiation Model in Presence of Wind and Target Above Ground Level 5-11
5-7 Solid Flame Radiation Model in Presence of Wind and Target at Ground Level . . . 5-11

6-1 Ignition Processes for Liquid and Solid Fuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1

6-2 External Radiation to a Solid Target from a Flame or Hot Surface
at Evaluated Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2

9-1 A Buoyant Turbulent Plume Showing Air Entrainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-1

9-2 Three Zones of the Axisymmetric Buoyant Fire Plume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
9-3 Fire Plume with Virtual Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5

xx
 Figures (continued)

10-1 Heat Transfer Characteristics of the Heat-Sensitive Element of Sprinkler . . . . . . . . 10-4

10-2 Representative Arrangement of a Solder-Type Link-and-Lever Automatic Sprinkler 10-5
10-3 Ceiling Jet Flow Beneath an Unconfined Ceiling and Sprinkler Activation . . . . . . . 10-11

11-1 Qualitative Relationship Between Time and Damage for Different Speeds of Fire
Development and Average Detection, Reaction, and Fire Fighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-2
11-2 Illustration of the Photoelectric Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-4
11-3 Illustration of the Ionization Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-4

12-1 Ceiling Jet Flow Beneath an Unconfined Ceiling Showing a Heat Detector . . . . . . . 12-9

13-1 Flashover and Post-Flashover Compartment Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-2

14-1 Overpressure Generated at a Fixed Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-1

15-1 Pressure Peaks of an Explosion Inside a Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-5

15-2 Propagation of Explosion Flame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-6
15-3 Ideal Blast Wave Overpressure vs. Scaled Distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-11

16-1 Flammability Limits of Hydrogen in Air Diluted with Carbon Dioxide and Nitrogen . 16-3
16-2 Flammability Limits of Hydrogen in Air-Steam Mixtures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-3
16-3 Spark Ignition Energies for Dry Hydrogen-Air Mixtures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-4
16-4 Typical Flammability Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-5

17-1 Standard Time-Temperature Curve (ASTM E119) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-1

17-2 Typical Methods of Protecting Various Structural Steel Elements from Fire . . . . . . 17-4
17-3 Encasement of a Steel Beam by Monolithic Casting of Concrete Around the Beam 17-9
17-4 Spray-On Mineral Fibers and Noncombustible Protective Coatings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-9
17-5 Sections of Unprotected Steel Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-11
17-6 Heated Perimeters for Common Column and Beam Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-12
17-7 Concrete-Protected Structural Steel Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-15

A-1 Basic Electrical Cable Construction — Common Single- and Multi-Conductor

Arrangements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-4
A-2 Thermoplastic Insulated Cable Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7
A-3 Thermoset Insulated Cable Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-8
A-4 Raw Time to Damage Chart for Thermoset XLPE Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-15
A-5 Time to Damage Plot for Thermoset Cables with Linear Regression Curve . . . . . . A-16
A-6 Raw Time to Damage Plot for Thermoplastic PE Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-17
A-7 Time to Damage Plot for Thermoplastic Cables with Linear Regression Curve . . . . A-18

xxi
 Figures (continued)

B.1-1 Fire Growth of t2 Fitted to Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-2

B.1-2 Growth Rate Curves for t2 Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-4
B.1-3 Comparison of t2 Heat Release Rate with Full-Scale Free-Burn Heat Release Rate . B-5
B.1-4 Relation of t 2 Heat Release Rate to Some Fire Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-5
B.1-5 Comparison of t2 Heat Release Rate with Full-Scale Furniture Heat Release Rate . . B-6
B.1-6 Three-Sided Work Station Heat Release Rate Curve Compared With t 2 Curves . . B-8
B.1-7 Heat Release Rate Curve for Idle Pallets Compared with t2 Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . B-9
B.1-8 Heat Release Rate for Stacked Box Fires Compared with t2 Curves . . . . . . . . . . B-10
B.14-1 Indication of Deep-Seated Fire and Reignition of Cables, Test # 60,
IEEE-383-Qualified Cables, Horizontal Trays, 4-Minute Halon Soak
Acceptor Tray Center Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-44
B.14-2 Soaking Time vs. Halon 1301 Concentration for Deep-Seated and Surface Fires B-45

xxii
 Tables

Page
1-1 Common Combustible and Hazardous Materials in NPPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6

2-1 Temperature Conversions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7

2-2 Critical Temperatures for Different Exposure Conditions and Effects on Humans . . . 2-7
2-3 Thermal Properties of Compartment Enclosing Surface Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
2-4 Measured Heat Release Rate Data for Cable Jacketing Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-20
2-5 Measured Heat Release Rate Data for Electrical Cabinets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-20
2-6 Measured Heat Release Rate Data for Transient Combustible Materials
(Flammable/Combustible Liquids) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-21
2-7 Measured Heat Release Rate Data for Transient Combustible Materials (Trash) . . 2-21
2-8 Measured Heat Release Rate Data for Transient Combustible Materials
(Plywood and Wood Pallet) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22
2-9 Ignition Thresholds (Pilotless within 30 seconds) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22
2-10 Thermal Effects on Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22

3-1 Rough Measure of Heat Generated from Various Sources . . . . . . . . . . ...... . . . . 3-2
3-2 Large-Pool Fire Burning Rate Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... . . . . 3-4
3-3 Pool Fire Burning Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... . . . . 3-5
3-4 Burning Rates of Some Combustible Materials Found in Nuclear Power Plants . . . . 3-6
3-5 Flame Temperatures of Selected Fuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... . . . 3-13
3-6 Adiabatic Flame Temperatures of Selected Fuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... . . . 3-15

6-1 Typical Heat Fluxes From Various Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2

6-2 Typical Ignition Times of Thick Solid Fuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4
6-3 Critical Heat Flux and Thermal Response Parameters of Selected Materials . . . . . . 6-6
6-4 Ignition Temperature and Thermal Properties of Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7
6-5 Ignition and Flame Spread Properties of Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-10
6-6 Ignition and Flame Spread Properties of Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-12

7-1 Bench-Scale HRR of a Cable Tray Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4

7-2 Thermoplastic vs. Thermoset Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5

8-1 Thermal Properties of Solid Combustible Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3

10-1 Temperature Rating, Classification, and Color Coding of Automatic Sprinklers . . . . 10-6
10-2 Generic Sprinkler Temperature Rating (T activation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-7
10-3 Generic Sprinkler Response Time Index (RTI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-8

12-1 Time Constant of Any Listed Detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-7

12-2 Detector Response Time Index of Any Listed Detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-8

xxiii
 Tables (continued)

15-1 Estimated Damage Attributable to Explosive Overpressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-7

15-2 Heat of Combustion, Ignition Temperature, and Adiabatic Flame Temperature
of Flammable Gases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-10
15-3 Pressure Effects on Humans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-12
15-4 Typical Failure Pressures of Some Building Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-13

16-1 Hydrogen Flammability Limits in Air at Room Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-2

16-2 Float Current Demand for Stationary Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-8
16-3 Mixing Efficiency for Various Ventilation Arrangements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-10

17-1 Standard Time-Temperature Curve Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-2

17-2 Temperature Endpoint Criteria for Structural Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-6
17-3 Typical Fire Resistance of Walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-7
17-4 Resultant Emissivity for Different Types of Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-19
17-5 Spreadsheet Calculation for the Temperature of Steel Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-20
17-6 Thermal Properties of Insulation Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-22

18-1 Proportionality Constants for Visibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-3

18-2 Specific Extinction Coefficient for Visibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-3
18-3 Smoke Particulate Yield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-4

A-1 Designation of Electrical Rated Voltages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3

A-2 Failure Time-Temperature Relationship for Thermoset Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-16
A-3 Failure Time-Temperature Relationship for Thermoplastic Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-18
A-4 Estimated Time to Damage for Radiant Heating Exposures for Thermoset Cables . A-19
A-5 Estimated Time to Damage for Radiant Heating Exposures for Thermoplastic Cables . . A-19

B.1-1 Summary of t2 Fire Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-3

B.1-2 Maximum Heat Release Rates of Warehouse Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-6
B.2-1 Corresponding Elements of Hydraulic and Electrical Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-11
B.5-1 Fire Classes with Extinguishing Agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-16
B.6-1 Flammable Liquid Classifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-17
B.6-2 Combustible Liquid Classifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-18
B.6-3 Flash Points of Flammable and Combustible Liquids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-19
B.6-4 Maximum Allowable Size of Containers and Portable Tanks
for Flammable and Combustible Liquids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... ... . . . . . B-20
B.6-5 Hazardous Material Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... ... . . . . . B-22
B.9-1 Melting, Boiling, and Ignition Temperatures of Pure Metals in Solid Form .. . . . . . B-30
B.10-1 Extinguishing Agents for Metal Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... ... . . . . . B-31

xxiv
 Tables (continued)

B.12-1 Construction Classifications of the Model Codes and NFPA 220 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-38
B.14-1 Halogenated Hydrocarbons Commonly Used for Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-42
B.15-1 Dry Chemical Agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-55
B.17-1 Toxicity Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-69
B.18-1 Approximate Lethal Concentrations (ALCs) for Predominant
Halon 1301 and Halon 1211 Decomposition Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-73
B.18-2 Concentration of Hazardous Gases Attributable to Decomposition of Halon 1301
in Industrial Baghouse Fire Situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-74
B.18-3 Halon 1301 Decomposition Produced by an n-Heptane Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-76
B.18-4 Selected Properties of Halon 1301, 1211, and 2402 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-76
B.19-1 Computer Fire Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-85

C.1-1 Common Engineering Terms Related to Heat Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-2

C.2-1 Incident Heat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-3
C.3-1 Target Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-4
C.4-1 Flame/Heat Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-5
C.5-1 Common Engineering Terms Related to Fire Severity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-6
C.5-2 Common Engineering Terms Related to Fire Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-7
C.6-1 Fire-Resistance Test Standards for Building Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-12
C.6-2 Fire-Resistance Test Standards for Aerosol and Liquid Paints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-13
C.6-3 Fire-Resistance Test Standards for Plastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-14

D.3-1 NRC Regulatory Guides Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-3

D.4-1 NRC Administrative Letters Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-5
D.4-2 NRC Bulletins Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-6
D.4-3 NRC Circulars Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-7
D.4-4 NRC Generic Letters Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-8
D.4-5 NRC Information Notices Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-10
D.4-6 NRC Regulatory Issue Summaries Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-16
D.5-1 Commission (SECY) Papers Related to Fire Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-18
D.6-1 Preliminary Notifications Related to Fire Incidents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-21

E.1-1 NFPA Codes and Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-1

H.1-1 Summary of Selected U.S. Commercial Nuclear Power Plant Fire Incidents . . . . . . . H-2

I.1-1 Basic Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-1

I.1-2 Derived Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-2
I.1-3 SI Prefixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-3
I.1-4 Scientific Notations, Prefixes, and Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-4
I.1-5 Selected Unit Conversions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-5
I.4-1 Values of Constants for General Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-17

xxv
xxvi
 LIST OF FIRE DYNAMICS TOOLS

The NRC’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) developed the fire dynamics tools
(FDT s ) using commercially available software (Microsoft Excel® 2000).

FDT s Chapter and Related Calculation Method(s)

Chapter 2. Predicting Hot Gas Layer Temperature

and Smoke Layer Height in a Room Fire
02.1_Temperature_NV.xls with Natural Ventilation
Method of McCaffrey, Quintiere, and Harkleroad (MQH)
• Compartment with Thermally Thick/Thin Boundaries

Chapter 2. Predicting Hot Gas Layer Temperature

in a Room Fire with Forced Ventilation
02.2_Temperature_FV.xls Method of Foote, Pagni, and Alvares (FPA)
• Compartment with Thermally Thick/Thin Boundaries

Method of Deal and Beyler

• Compartment with Thermally Thick/Thin Boundaries

02.3_Temperature_CC.xls Chapter 2. Predicting Hot Gas Layer Temperature in a Room

Fire with Door Closed
Compartment has Sufficient Leaks
to Prevent Pressure Buildup; Leakage is Ignored
Method of Beyler

03_HRR_Flame_Height_Burning_ Chapter 3. Estimating Burning Characteristics

Duration_Calculation.xls of Liquid Pool Fire, Heat Release Rate,
Burning Duration and Flame Height

04_Flame_Height_Calculations.xls Chapter 4. Estimating Wall Fire Flame Height,

Line Fire Flame Height Against the Wall,
and Corner Fire Flame Height

xxvii
 LIST OF FIRE DYNAMICS TOOLS (continued)

FDT s Chapter and Related Calculation Method

Chapter 5. Estimating Radiant Heat Flux from Fire

to a Target Fuel
05.1_Heat_Flux_Calculations_Wind_
Free.xls W ind-Free Condition
• Point Source Radiation Model (Target at Ground Level)
• Solid Flame Radiation Model (Target at Ground Level)
• Solid Flame Radiation Model
(Target Above Ground Level)
05.2_Heat_Flux_Calculations_W ind.xls
Presence of Wind
• Solid Flame Radiation Model (Target at Ground Level)
• Solid Flame Radiation Model (Target Above Ground Level)
05.3_Thermal_Radiation_From_
Estimating Thermal Radiation from Hydrocarbon Fireballs
Hydrocarbon_Fireballs.xls

06_Ignition_Time_Calculations.xls Chapter 6. Estimating the Ignition Time of a Target Fuel

Exposed to a Constant Radiative Heat Flux

• Method of Estimating Piloted Ignition Time

of Solid Materials Under Radiant Exposures
Method of (1) Mikkola and Wichman,
(2) Quintiere and Harkleroad, and (3) Janssens

• Method of Estimating Piloted Ignition Time of Solid

Materials Under Radiant Exposures
Method of Toal, Silcock and Shields

• Method of Estimating Piloted Ignition Time of Solid

Materials Under Radiant Exposures
Method of Tewarson

07_Cable_HRR_Calculations.xls Chapter 7. Estimating Full-Scale Heat Release Rate

of a Cable Tray Fire

08_Burning_Duration_Soild.xls Chapter 8. Estimating Burning Duration of Solid

Combustibles

09_Plume_Temperature_Calculations.xls Chapter 9. Estimating Centerline Temperature

of a Buoyant Fire Plume

xxviii
 LIST OF FIRE DYNAMICS TOOLS (continued)

FDT s Chapter and Related Calculation Method

10_Detector_Activation_Time.xls Estimating Detector Response Time

Chapter 10. Estimating Sprinkler Response Time

Chapter 11. Estimating Smoke Detector Response Time
Chapter 12. Estimating Heat Detector Response Time

13_Compartment_ Flashover_ Chapter 13. Predicting Compartment Flashover

Calculations.xls
• Compartment Post-Flashover Temperature:
Method of Law
• Minimum Heat Release Rate
Required to Compartment Flashover:
Method of (1) McCaffrey, Quintiere, and Harkleroad
(MQH); (2) Babrauskas; and (3) Thomas

14_Compartment_Over_Pressure_ Chapter 14. Estimating Pressure Rise

Calculations.xls Attributable to a Fire in a Closed Compartment

15_Explosion_Claculations.xls Chapter 15. Estimating the Pressure Increase

and Explosive Energy Release
Associated with Explosions

16_Battery_Room_Flammable_Gas_ Chapter 16. Calculating the Rate of Hydrogen Gas

Conc.xls Generation in Battery Rooms

• Method of Estimating Hydrogen Gas Generation

Rate in Battery Rooms

• Method of Estimating Flammable Gas and Vapor

Concentration Buildup in Enclosed Spaces

• Method of Estimating Flammable Gas and Vapor

Concentration Buildup Time in Enclosed Spaces

xxix
 LIST OF FIRE DYNAMICS TOOLS (continued)

FDT s Chapter and Related Calculation Method

Chapter 17. Calculating the Fire Resistance

of Structural Steel Members

17.1_FR_Beams_Columns_ • Empirical Correlations

Substitution_Correlation.xls

17.2_FR_Beams_Columns_Quasi_ • Beam Substitution Correlation (Spray-Applied Materials)

Steady_State_Spray_Insulated.xls • Column Substitution Correlation (Spray-Applied Materials)
• Heat Transfer Analysis using Numerical Methods
Protected Steel Beams and Columns (Spray-Applied)

17.3_FR_Beams_Columns_Quasi_ • Heat Transfer Analysis using Numerical Methods

Steady_State_Board_Insulated.xls Protected Steel Beams and Columns (Board Materials)

17.4_FR_Beams_Columns_Quasi_ • Heat Transfer Analysis using Numerical Methods

Steady_State_Uninsulated.xls Unprotected Steel Beams and Columns

18_Visibility_Through_Smoke.xls Chapter 18. Estimating Visibility Through Smoke

xxx
 DISCLAIMER

The calculation methods presented in this NUREG-series report and programmed in the Fire
Dynamics Tools (FDT s ) spreadsheets include scientific calculations, as well as material physical
and thermal properties relevant to fire hazard analyses. Each spreadsheet on the CD-ROM has
been protected and secured to avoid calculation errors attributable to invalid entries in the cell(s).
Although each calculation in each spreadsheet has been verified with the results of hand
calculations, there is no absolute guarantee of the accuracy of these calculations.

The first-time analyst should read the text in this report in its entirety before making an analysis.
Most of the equations and correlations in the spreadsheets are simple mathematical expressions
commonly used in fire protection engineering. The mathematical expressions are not limited,
however, and they sometimes give physically impossible values. W here we have encountered this
problem, or where a value exceeds known limits, we have added red warning flags to the
spreadsheets. For example a red flag appears when an equation increases the hot gas layer
temperature as a result of a fire that goes well beyond those that are physically possible.

Finally, with respect to any errors, omissions, or oversights that may still exist in the text, we are
of one mind. Any shortcomings are the results of something the other one of us did or did not do. No one
else can share them.

The publication of this NUREG-series report completes the initial effort by the NRC’s Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation to produce an Introduction to Fire Dynamics for NRC Inspectors.
Future updates or corrections, or new FDT s spreadsheets will be posted on the NRC’s public
Web site in the Fire Protection section of the Reactor Operating Experience page at
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ops-experience/fire-protection.html.

To offer any questions, comments, or suggestions, or to report an error in the NUREG or FDT s ,
please send an email message to NXI@ nrc.gov or MXS3@ nrc.gov, or write to:

Naeem Iqbal
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Mail Stop O11-A11
Washington, DC 20555-0001

or

Mark Henry Salley

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Mail Stop T10-E50
Washington, DC 20555-0001

xxxi
xxxii
 THE AUTHORS

Naeem Iqbal

Naeem Iqbal is a Fire Protection Engineer in the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
(NRR). He holds a Master of Science degree in fire protection engineering from the University of
Maryland at College Park and a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from NED
University of Engineering and Technology in Pakistan. Mr. Iqbal is a member of the Society of Fire
Protection Engineers (SFPE); National Fire Protection Association (NFPA); American Society of
Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE); and International Association
of Fire Safety Science (IAFSS).

Mr. Iqbal has been actively involved in fire hazard analysis, computer and mathematical fire
modeling, smoke spread and fire growth, fire code review and compliance, and fire risk assessment
projects for U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. He also reviews and prepares safety evaluation
reports for power reactors. Mr. Iqbal is currently involved in preparing safety evaluation reports to
support renewal of licenses for extended operation of the Nation’s operating nuclear power plants
under Title 10, Part 54, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 54). He has also been
involved in research and development projects in fire protection engineering, with a particular focus
on fundamental and applied aspects of fire safety science, engineering, and technology.
In addition, Mr. Iqbal has authored several publications and technical reports on flame spread,
burning rate, fire growth on materials, and fire hazard analysis.

Prior to joining the NRC, Mr. Iqbal worked for Hughes Associates, Inc., a leading engineering
consulting firm specializing in engineering design, research and development, and advanced
technology related to fire protection engineering. There, he was responsible for performing
technical studies of a wide range of fire protection problems, as well as fire hazard and risk analysis
of unusual and unique situations in commercial and industrial facilities and Department of Energy
(DOE) nuclear processing facilities problems involving model building codes and fire codes that fail
to adequately address a particular situation.

Mark Henry Salley, P.E.

Mark Henry Salley currently serves as Fire Research Team Leader in the NRC’s Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research (RES); however, he prepared much of this publication as a Fire Protection
Engineer in NRR. Mr. Salley holds Master and Bachelor of Science degrees in fire protection
engineering, both from the University of Maryland at College Park. He is a registered professional
engineer in fire protection engineering and a member of the NFPA, SFPE, and American Nuclear
Society (ANS).

Prior to joining the NRC, Mr. Salley was the Corporate Fire Protection Engineer for the Tennessee
Valley Authority Nuclear (TVAN) program. There, he was responsible for the overall TVAN Fire
Protection and Fire Safe-Shutdown Program (under 10 CFR Appendix R). Mr. Salley worked on
the restart of Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, as well as Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant,
Units 2 and 3. He also played an integral role in the completion of construction, licensing, and
startup of Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 1.

xxxiii
Mr. Salley has also served as a Principle Project Engineer for Parsons-Main Inc. in Charlotte, North
Carolina. There, he supported the restart of the K-reactor at the DOE Savannah River Site
and the site-wide fire protection upgrade.

Mr. Salley has an extensive background in fire protection engineering, including firefighting, design
engineering, fire testing, and analytical analysis. He has also authored papers in the area of fire
protection engineering.

xxxiv
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. Frederick Mowrer and the University of Maryland,
Department of Fire Protection Engineering. Both authors have attended Dr. Mowrer’s Advanced
Fire Modeling course (ENFP 625) as a part of their postgraduate studies, and the general concepts
used in creating and developing the FDT s spreadsheets are similar to those taught by Dr. Mowrer.

The authors also thank Mr. Sunil Weerakkody, the NRC Project Manager and Fire Protection
Section Chief who spearheaded this project. We also gratefully acknowledge the contributions of
our colleagues and managers at NRC Headquarters who supported us throughout this project, as
well as the NRC’s regional managers and fire protection inspectors who offered valuable
contributions, support, and suggestions. The regional inspectors also contributed valuable advice
during quarterly fire protection seminars to improve the quality of the FDT s spreadsheets.
We developed the final product with them in mind as the end users.

The authors also extend our thanks to Tanya Mensah and James Downs, Fire Protection Engineers
with NRR/DSSA/SPLB, as well as the NRR Nuclear Safety Interns (Matthew Yoder, Jason
Dreisbach, Joel Rivera-Oritz, and Alexander Velazquez-Lozada) who assisted us in preparing this
report and the FDT s spreadsheets. We deeply appreciate their invaluable assistance. We also
gratefully acknowledge George Hausman, a Reactor Inspector in Region III, for assisting in making
the FDT s spreadsheets more user-friendly. We also extend special thanks to Ms. Paula Garrity,
a Technical Editor with the Program Management, Policy Development and Analysis Staff of the
NRC’s Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES), for providing editorial support, navigating us
through the formal requirements, and assisting us in setting the style and appearance of the text.
We are also indebted to Mr. Lionel Watkins and Ms. Monique King, two talented Visual Information
Specialists in the Information and Records Services Division, Publishing and Distribution Services
Branch, of the NRC’s Office of Chief Information Officer (OCIO), who designed the cover and many
of the graphics for this report. In addition, we greatly appreciate the support of Gary Lauffer
(Chief of the Publishing Services Branch), Guy Beltz, (the agency’s Printing Specialist), and
Linda Stevenson (the agency’s publications specialist), whose invaluable support and expertise
were critical to ensuring the quality of the published manuscript.

Our sincere thanks also go to Mr. Gerald Haynes, a Fire Protection Engineer, with the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF&E) in Washington, DC, who identified the
concept of spreadsheets used in the ATF&E fire and arson investigation program. The ATF&E’s
spreadsheets served as a conceptual model for the NRC’s effort. Mr. Haynes, Mr. Stephen Hill,
and numerous Certified Fire Inspectors (CFIs) at the ATF&E also provided valuable comments on
the development of the NRC’s spreadsheets.

Finally, the authors thank the NRC inspectors and external stakeholders who took the time
to provide comments, suggestions, and words of encouragement on the first draft of this document
when it was published in the Federal Register (Vol. 68, No. 140, Page 43400). The following pages
acknowledge these contributors.

Naeem Iqbal Mark Henry Salley

xxxv
Internal Stakeholders

NRC Regional Inspectors

Region I: Region II: Region III: Region IV:
Richard Barkley Charles Casto Sonia Burgess Lawrence Ellershaw
Ram Bhatia Charles Ogle Doris Chyu Paula Goldberg
Christopher Cahill Charles Payne Robert Daley Claude Johnson
Leonard Cheung Reinaldo Rodriguez Zelig Falevits Charles Marschall
Eugene Cobey W alter Rogers Ronald Gardner John Mateychick
Aniello DellaGreca Robert Schin John Grobe Timothy McConnell
Harold Eichenholz Caswell Smith George Hausman W illiam McNeill
Roy Fuhrmeister Necota Staples David Hills Raymond Mullikin
James Linville McKenzie Thomas Benny Jose Rebecca Nease
Glenn Meyer Gerald Wiseman Ronald Langstaff Neil O’Keefe
John Rogge Julio Lara Charles Paulk
Larry Scholl Kenneth O’Brien Troy Pruett
James Trapp Michael Parker Linda Smith
Richard Urban Cynthia Pederson Joseph Taylor
Tracy Walker Darrell Schrum John Whittemore
David Werkheiser
Keith Young

NRC Headquarters
SPLB NRR: RES: ACRS:
Fire Protection: Suzanne Black Monideep Dey Dana Powers
Richard Dipert John Hannon J.S. Hyslop Stephen Rosen
Daniel Frumkin Michael Johnson W illiam Raughley John Sieber
Raymond Gallucci Peter Koltay Nathan Siu Graham Wallis
Alexander Klein George Morris
Paul Lain Robert Perch
Phillip Qualls Mark Reinhart
Robert Radlinski See-Meng W ong

External Stakeholders (Significant Public Comments)

Rashid Abbas (TVA) David J. Icove, PhD, PE
Vytenis (Vyto) Babrauskas, PhD (U.S. Tennessee Valley Authority Police)
(Fire Science and Technology Inc.) Peter Jackman (International Fire Consultants, Ltd.)
Nick Barilo (Bechtel Hanford, Inc.) Moonhak Jee
Thomas F. Barry, P.E. (Fireriskforum) (KEPRI in Korea)
John Bryan, EdD, Professor Emeritus Francisco Joglar (SAIC)
(Fire Protection Eng., University of MD) Alex Marion (Nuclear Energy Institute)
Brad Dolan (Robinson NPP PSA Engineer) Leong Poon
Tom Fernandez (DE Design, A&E) (Warrington Fire Research in Australia)
W ayne D. Holmes, P.E., FSFPE Deggary N. Priest (Omega Point Laboratories)
(HSB Professional Loss Control) Robert Toth
Morgan J. Hurley, P.E. (SFPE) (International Association of Arson Investigators)
James R. Hutton, PE, CSP W oody W alker (Arkansas Nuclear One)
(National Nuclear Security Administration) Ulf Wickström, SP (Sweden)

xxxvi
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR),
Division of Systems Safety and Analysis (DSSA), Plant Systems Branch (SPLB), Fire Protection
Engineering and Special Projects Section, has developed quantitative methods, known as
“Fire Dynamics Tools” (FDT s ), to assist regional fire protection inspectors in performing fire hazard
analysis (FHA). These methods have been implemented in spreadsheets and taught at the NRC’s
quarterly regional inspector workshops conducted in 2001–2003. The goal of the training is to
assist inspectors in calculating the quantitative aspects of a postulated fire and its effects on safe
nuclear power plant (NPP) operation. FDT s were developed using state-of-the-art fire dynamics
equations and correlations that were preprogramed and locked into Microsoft Excel® spreadsheets.
These FDT s will enable the inspector to perform quick, easy, first-order calculations for the potential
fire scenarios using today’s state-of-the-art principles of fire dynamics. Each FDT s spreadsheet
also contains a list of the physical and thermal properties of the materials commonly encountered
in NPPs.

The FDT s are intended to assist fire protection inspectors in performing risk-informed evaluations
of credible fires that may cause critical damage to essential safe-shutdown equipment, as required
by the new reactor oversight process (ROP) defined in the NRC’s inspection manual*. In the new
ROP, the NRC is moving toward a more risk-informed, objective, predictable, understandable, and
focused regulatory process. Key features of the new program are a risk-informed regulatory
framework, risk-informed inspections, a significance determination process (SDP) ** to evaluate
inspection findings, performance indicators, a streamlined assessment process, and more clearly
defined actions that the NRC will take for plants based on their performance.

This NUREG-series report addresses the technical bases for FDT s, which were derived from the
principles developed primarily in the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) Handbook of Fire
Protection Engineering, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Fire Protection Handbook, and
other fire science literature. The subject matter of this report covers many aspects of fire dynamics
and contains descriptions of the most important fire processes. A significant number of examples,
reference tables, illustrations, and conceptual drawings are presented in this report to expand
the inspector’s appreciation in visualizing and retaining the material and understanding calculation
methods.

The content of the FDT s encompasses fire as a physical phenomenon. As such, the inspector
needs a working knowledge of algebra to effectively use the formulae presented in this report and
the FDT s. Acquired technical knowledge or course background in the sciences will also prove helpful.
The information contained in this report is similar to, but includes less theory and detail than,
an undergraduate-level university curriculum for fire protection engineering students.

*
NRC Inspection Manual, Chapter 0609F, Appendix F, “Determining Potential Risk Significance
of Fire Protection and Post-Fire Safe Shutdown Inspection Findings,” February 27, 2001.

**
NRC Inspection Manual, Chapter 0609F, Appendix F, Section F.5, “Fire Protection Risk
Significance Screening Methodology— Phase 2, Step 4: Integrated Assessment of DID Findings
(Excluding SSD) and Fire Ignition Frequency,” February 27, 2001.

xxxvii
The goal of this report is to develop a common body of knowledge of fire protection and fire science
to enable the inspector to acquire the understanding, skills, and abilities necessary to effectively
apply principles of fire dynamics to analyze the potential effects of a fire in a commercial NPP.
The FDT s will advance the FHA process from an approach that is primarily qualitative to one that
is more quantitative. The development of this report, the FDT s , and the quarterly inspector
workshops conducted in 2001–2003 is the NRC’s first step in achieving that goal.

Toward that end, on November 22 and 23, 2004, the NRC conducted a 2-day public meeting at the
agency’s headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, with the sole purpose of sharing an “advanced copy”
of NUREG-1805 with all interested stakeholders. The meeting was well-received, and the
participants identified numerous suggestions to further refine both the advanced copy and the
spreadsheets. We thank those stakeholders for their involvement and have made every attempt
to include their valued comments in preparing the final files for the publication of this report.

Fire is a complex subject and transfer of its concepts to useful pursuits is a challenge. We hope
that this report and the FDT s can make a difference in the NRC’s fire protection inspection program,
specifically risk-informed fire protection initiatives such as the SDP and risk-informed inspection
of circuits.

xxxviii
 HOW TO USE THIS NUREG AND THE FDT S
This NUREG-series report and the related Fire Dynamics Tools (FDT s ) provide first-order
quantitative methods (i.e., traditional approaches, correlations, computations, closed form
approximations or exact solutions, and hazard models) to assess the potential fire hazard
development in commercial nuclear power plants (NPPs). This report is divided into chapters
that correspond to FDT s. First-time users should read this report in its entirety before performing
an analysis. Once the basic principles are understood, the FDT s can be used to perform fire
dynamics calculations. As explained in this report, appropriate care must be exercised to apply
the FDT s within the limits of their validity.

The CD-ROM that accompanies this report provides separate folders containing the FDT s
spreadsheets. This text exclusively uses the spreadsheets in the “English Units” folder. The folder
labeled “SI Units” contains the same FDT s spreadsheets but requires all user inputs to be
in SI units.

The chapters and appendices of this report provide basic text on fire protection engineering,
to provide inspectors with an overview of the basic characteristics and behavior of fire, fire hazards
of materials and buildings, and an overview of the fundamental methods of fire protection.
Appendix F to this report contains a glossary of terms used in the field of fire protection engineering.
Appendix I, “Mathematics Review and System of Units,” is included to refresh the inspector’s
understanding of mathematical functions, dimensional consistency in equations, and variables used
in the FDT s . Each chapter contains practice problems for the inspector to apply the principles
learned with the FDT s program. Appendix J provides additional problems for added practice.

Each chapter in this report has one or more spreadsheet(s) based on the method discussed in the
chapter. Each spreadsheet is designed to make the calculation method understandable, and all
of them are in the same format. The input parameter cells in each spreadsheet are identified
in yellow. The user needs to enter data by typing (on the keyboard) and making selections through
the use of pull-down menus and dialog boxes. The spreadsheets also bundle many material
properties to enable the user to select a single input from a table, instead of entering all of the
associated parameters. The user simply needs to select the material from the provided list
(pull-down menu), and the spreadsheet will automatically place the associated property data in the
corresponding green input cells. For example, an inspector can simply click on “concrete” in the
property table, and the correct parameters will appear in the input parameter cells. This will also
eliminate errors in manually entering the properties in the input parameter cells. Where material
properties are not available in the spreadsheet table, the user will have to enter the values manually
without selecting any material from the material properties data table.

The spreadsheets explicitly show the calculation methods — in detail and step-by-step — so that
the inspector can follow the application of the FHA methods. The example problems at the end
of each chapter, and practice problems in Appendix J, have been designed to be solved mainly
with the FDT s ; however, in some cases, simple calculations are required before using the FDT s .
The results of the calculations are designated by the word “ANSWER” in the spreadsheets.

xxxix
The FDT s spreadsheets are programmed with mathematical equations that can produce “numerical”
accuracy to any number of decimal places. For consistency, the authors generally chose
two decimal places; however, the user should focus on the magnitude of the results and not attempt
to solve problems by placing critical emphasis on decimal values. For example if a component
is “damaged” at 700°F (371.11°C) and the calculated results indicate 699.99°F (371.10°C), only an
inexperienced user would argue that damage is not probable. In many cases, a resultant close to
690°F (365.55°C) is close enough to suggest damage.

Fire dynamics is a constantly evolving science and rarely dictates a single answer as to how a fire burns.
The user is encouraged to perform bounding calculations as a part of the FHA. This will form a
window of possible, credible solutions. An example of this concept would be to vary ventilation
rates (door open vs. door closed, mechanical ventilation system on vs. off, different vent locations,
etc.).

A final word of caution is in order for users of this report and the accompanying spreadsheets. An
FHA can often be a complex series of calculations and evaluations that are necessary to gain a
comprehensive understanding of the fire risk and its potential effects on NPP safety. This report
provides one important element of that process, namely assisting the user in understanding fire
dynamics; however, this report was never intended to be the “end-all” text for a complete
understanding of fire risk. Experience, engineering judgment, peer review, and other sources of
information will be necessary for a complete understanding of the risk. For example, this report
does not attempt to answer two important questions: “How accurate are the equations in this text?
“Are they ±10% , or do they always over-predict the results?

At the time of this writing, the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, in cooperation with
the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), is subjecting this report to “verification and validation”
(V&V) against another fire dynamics method and three fire models to answer those very questions.
Their final product should help reduce calculation uncertainties and provide additional insights to
the methods and models. Another program that has been recommended is the development of a
fire modeling user’s guide. Such a guide would compile in a usable format the lessons learned from
the V&V exercise, as well as field experience from the use of this report, the accompanying
spreadsheets, and other methods. As such, a user’s guide would help to further improve the overall
quality of fire risk assessments.

xl
 ABBREVIATIONS
ABS Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene
ACRS Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (NRC)
ADAMS Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (NRC)
ADS Automatic Depressurization System
AFFF Aqueous Film Forming Foam
AFT Adiabatic Flame Temperature
AFW Auxiliary Feedwater
AGA American Gas Association
AHJ Authority Having Jurisdiction
AISI American Iron and Steel Institute
AL Administrative Letter
ALC Approximate Lethal Concentration
ANS American Nuclear Society
ANSI American National Standards Institute
API American Petroleum Institute
ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers
ASCOS Analysis of Smoke Control Systems
ASET Available Safe Egress Time
ASHRAE American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers
ASME American Society of Mechanical Engineers
ASMET Atria Smoke Management Engineering Tools
ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials
AT Auxiliary Transformer
ATF&E Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
AW G American Wire Gauge

BFC Bromochlorodifluoro-methane
BFNP Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant
BFRL Building and Fire Research Laboratory
BL Bulletin
BLEVE Boiling Liquid, Expanding Vapor Explosion
BOCA Building Officials & Code Administration International
BREAK1 Berkeley Algorithm for Breaking Window Glass in a Compartment Fire
BS British Standard
BTP Branch Technical Position
BTU British Thermal Unit
BW R Boiling-Water Reactor

CCW Component Cooling Water

CFAST Consolidate Model of Fire Growth and Smoke Transport
CFD Computational Fluid Dynamics
CFI Certified Fire Inspector
CFO Chief Financial Officer (NRC)
CFR Code of Federal Regulations
CHF Critical Heat Flux

xli
CIB Conseil Internationale du Batiment
CIBSI Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers
CIO Chief Information Officer (NRC)
CL.S.PE Chlorosulfonated Polyethylene
CO Carbon Monoxide
CO 2 Carbon Dioxide
CP Construction Permit
CPCV Chlorinated Polyvinylchloride
CPE Chlorinated Polyethylene
CPSC Consumer Product Safety Commission
CR Circular or Neoprene or Chloroprene Rubber
CSNI Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations
CSP Chlorosulfonated Polyethylene Rubber (Kel-F ® )
CSR Cable Spreading Room
CTEF Chlorotrifluoroethylene

DDT Deflagration to Detonation Transition

DETACT-QS Detector Actuation Quasi-Steady
DETACT-T2 Detector Actuation Time Square
DID Defense-in-Depth
DOE U.S. Department of Energy
DOT U.S. Department of Transportation
DSSA Division of Systems Safety and Analysis (NRC)

ECCS Emergency Core Cooling System

EDG Emergency Diesel Generator
EDO Executive Director for Operations (NRC)
ELVAC Elevator Evacuation
EMI/RFI Electromagnetic or Radio-Frequency Interface
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
EPR Ethylene-Propylene Rubber
EPRI Electrical Power Research Institute
EQ Equipment Qualification
ESFR Early Suppression Fast Response
ETFE Ethylenetetrafluoroethylene (Tefzel®)
EVA Ethylvinyl Acetate

FAA Federal Aviation Administration

FDI Fire Detection Institute
FDM Fire Demand Model
FDS Fire Dynamics Simulator
FDT s Fire Dynamics Tools
FEM Finite Element Method
FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency
FEP Fluorinated Polyethylene Propylene (Teflon®)

xlii
FFFP Film-Forming Fluoroprotein Foam
FHA Fire Hazard Analysis
FIGARO II Fire and Gas Spread in Room (model)
FIPEC Fire Performance of Electrical Cables
FIRES-T3 Fire Response of Structures-Thermal Three (model)
FIVE Fire Induced Vulnerability Evaluation
FMRC Factory Mutual Research Corporation
FPA Foote, Pagni, and Alvares
FPE Fire Protection Engineer(ing)
FPETOOL Fire Protection Engineering Tool
FPP Fire Protection Program
FPS Fire Protection System
FR Fire-Retardant
FRP Fiberglass Reinforced Polyester (Plastic)
FRXPE Fire-Retardant Crosslinked Polyethylene
FSSD Post-Fire Safe-Shutdown
FTA Federal Transit Authorization
FTMS Federal Test Method Standard

GDC General Design Criteria

GL Generic Letter
GSA General Service Administration
GSI Generic Safety Issue

H 2O Water
HBr Hydrogen Bromide
HCI Hydrogen Chloride
HCN Hydrogen Cyanide
HEPA High-Efficiency Particulate Air Filter
HF Hydrogen Fluoride
HPCI High Pressure Cooling Injection
HRR Heat Release Rate
HTGR High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor
HVAC Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning

IAFSS International Association of Fire Safety Science

IBC International Building Code
ICBO International Conference of Building Officials
ICS Integrated Control System
ICSDTS International Committee for the Study and Development of Tubular Structures
IE Initiative Events
IEC International Electrotechnical Commission
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
IN Information Notice
INEEL Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory
IPEEE Individual Plant Examination of External Events
ISO International Organization for Standardization

xliii
LAVENT Link Actuation Vents
LC Lethal Concentration
LCL Lethal Concentration Low
LD Lethal Dose
LDL Lethal Dose Low
LEL Lower Explosive Limit
LER Licensee Event Report
LFL Lower Flammability Limit
LIFT Lateral Ignition and Flame Spread (ASTM E 1321 Standard Test Method)
LLNL Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
LNG Liquified Natural Gas
LOC Limiting Oxidant Concentration
LOCA Loss-of-Coolant Accident
LPG Liquid Propane Gas
LWR Light-Water Reactor

MCC Motor Control Center

MCR Main Control Room
MESG Maximum Experimental Safe Gap
MOV Motor-Operated Valve
MQH McCaffrey, Quintiere, and Harkleroad

NBC National Building Code

NBR Nitrile
NBS National Bureau of Standards
NEA Nuclear Energy Agency
NEI Nuclear Energy Institute
NEMA National Electrical Manufacturers Association
NFC National Fire Code
NFPA National Fire Protection Association
NIOSH National Institute of Occupational Safety ad Health
NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology
NO 2 Nitrogen Dioxide
NOUN Notification of Unusual Event
NPP Nuclear Power Plant
NRC U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
NRR Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRC)
NUREG NUclear REGulatory Guide

OCIO Office of Chief Information Officer (NRC)

OL Operating License
ORNL Oak Ridge National Laboratory
OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration
OSU Ohio State University

xliv
PASS Personal Alert Safety System
PC Polycarbonate
PDA Primary Disconnect Assembly
PE Polyethylene
PEF Polyethylene Fluoride
PES Polyethersulphone
PFA Perfluoroalkoxy Branched Polymers
PMMA Polymethylmethacrylate
PP Polypropylene
PPE Polytetrafluoroethylene
PRA Probabilistic Risk Assessment
PS Polystyrene
PTEF Polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon®)
PU Polyurethane
PVC Polyvinylchloride
PVF Polyvinylfluoride

RCP Reactor Coolant Pump

RES Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (NRC)
RG Regulatory Guide
RHR Residual Heat Removal
RIS Regulatory Issue Summary
RMV Respiratory Minute Volume
ROP Reactor Oversight Process
RTECS Registry of the Toxic Effects of Chemical Substance
RTI Response Time Index
RWFD Red Wing Fire Department

S/G Steam Generator

SBC Standard Building Code
SBCCI Southern Building Code Congress International
SBDG Standby Diesel Generator
SBR Styrene Butadiene Rubber
SCBA Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus
SDP Significance Determination Process
SER Significant Event Report
SFPE Society of Fire Protection Engineers
SI System International
SNL Sandia National Laboratories
SOLAS Safety of Lives at Sea
SONGS San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station
SPLB Plant Systems Branch (NRC)
SRP Standard Review Plan (NUREG-0800)
SSC Structure, System, and/or Component

xlv
TASEF Temperature Analysis of Structure Exposed to Fire
TCL Toxic Concentration Low
TDL Toxic Dose Low
TFE Tetrafluoroethylene (Teflon®)
TLC Toxic Concentration Low
TLV Threshold Limit Value
TNT Trinitrotoluene
TRP Thermal Response Parameter
TSC Technical Support Center
TTC Time-Temperature Curve
TVA Tennessee Valley Authority
TVAN Tennessee Valley Authority Nuclear Program

UBC Uniform Building Code

UEL Upper Explosive Limit
UFC Uniform Fire Code
UFL Upper Flammability Limit
UL Underwriters Laboratories
UPS Uninterruptible Power Supply
USFA United States Fire Administration
UVCE Unconfined Vapor Cloud Explosion

V&V verification and validation

VRLA Valve-Regulated Lead Acid

W/D Weight-to-Heated Perimeter Ratio

XLPE Crosslinked Polyethylene

XLPO Crosslinked Polyolefin

xlvi
 NOMENCLATURE
Ac Compartment floor area
Ae Surface of element
Af Horizontal burning area of fuel
AH Ampere hours
As Cross sectional area
AT Area of compartment enclosing surfaces (excluding vent areas)
Av Area of ventilation openings

b Flame spread parameter

C Gas concentration by volume

c Thermal capacity
ci Specific heat of insulation
cp Specific heat
cs Specific heat of steel
cv Specific heat at constant volume
CHF Critical heat flux for ignition

D Diameter
D Heated parameter
D SC Scaled distance

E Emissive power
E Explosive energy released

F Configuration or shape factor

F Fire resistance time
FTP Flux time product
Fc Float Current per 100 AH

g Acceleration of gravity
G Gas discharge rate

h Thickness of insulation
h Heat flux time product index
hc Compartment height
h eff Effective heat transfer coefficient
h ig Heat transfer coefficient at ignition
hk Convective heat transfer coefficient
hv Height of ventilation opening
H Thermal capacity of steel section at ambient
H Height
Hg Hydrogen gas generation
Hf Flame height
H f(wall) Wall flame height
H f(wall,line) Line fire flame height
H f(corner) Corner fire flame height

xlvii
k Thermal conductivity
ki Thermal conductivity of insulation
krc Thermal inertia
K Mixing efficiency factor
K Proportionality constant

lc Compartment length
L Length
LFL Lower flammability limit

m Mass
mf Mass of fuel vapor
mf Mass of fuel burned
mp Mass concentration of particulate
Mass flow rate
Mass entrainment rate
Mass flow rate of fuel
Mass flow rate out of enclosure

Plume mass flow rate

Mass loss rate per unit area
Mp Mass of particulates produced

N Number of cells (batteries)

N Number of theoretical air changes

P Pressure

Heat flux
Critical heat flux
External heat flux

Minimum heat flux required for ignition

Radiative heat flux
Q Volume of air
Q total Total energy release
Heat release rate or energy release rate

Convective energy release rate

Energy release rate to cause flashover

Full-scale energy release rate

Bench-scale energy release rate

xlviii
r Radius
R Radial distance
R Fire Resistance
RTI Response time index

S Visibility

t Time
tb Burning duration
tD Detection time
tig Ignition time
tp Thermal penetration time
tr Detector response time
tt Smoke transit time
tactivation Sprinkler activation time
T Temperature
Ta Ambient temperature
Tf Fire temperature
T FO(max) Post-flashover compartment temperature
Tg Gas temperature
Ts Steel temperature
T jet Ceiling jet temperature
T p(centerline) Plume centerline temperature
T activation Activation temperature

u jet Ceiling jet velocity

uw Wind velocity
uo Gas velocity
u* Nondimensional wind velocity

V Volume
V def Volume of gas for deflagration

w Fuel exposed width

wc Compartment width
W Weight of steel column per linear foot
W TNT Weight of TNT

yp Particulate yield

z Height of smoke layer interface above floor

zo Hypothetical virtual origin of fire source
Zp Fireball flame height
DH c Heat of Combustion
DH c,eff Effective heat of combustion
Dt Time step
DT g Gas temperature above ambient
DT ig Ignition temperature above ambient
a Heat transfer coefficient for steel

xlix
a Yield (fraction of available energy participating in blast wave generation)
am Specific extinction coefficient
cr Fraction of total energy radiated
d Thickness
e Flame emissivity
W Ventilation factor
q Flame title or angle of deflection
r Density
ra Density of Ambient Air
rc Density of combustion products
rc Density of concrete
rF Density of fuel vapor
rg Density of gas
ri Density of insulation
s Stafan-Boltzmann constant
to Detector time constant
n Regression rate

Subscripts

a Ambient
bs Bench-scale
c Compartment
c Combustion
c Concrete
c Current
D Detection
def Deflagration
e Convective
e External
eff Effective
e Entrainment
f Fire
f Flame
f Fuel
f(corner) Corner flame
f(wall) Wall flame
f(wall,line) Line fire flame
FO Flashover
fs Full-scale
g Gas
H Hours
I Insulation
ig Ignition
jet Ceiling jet
m Extinction
min Minimum
o Out

l
p Specific
p Particulate
p Plume
p Penetration
r Radiative
r Response
SC Scale
s Steel
T Total
total Total
t Transient
TNT Trinitrotoluene
v Vent
v Volume
w Wind

Superscripts

( @) Per unit time

( )” Per unit area
( @)” Per unit are, per unit time
* Nondimensional

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