Waste drum fire propagation at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

An accident scenario had been postulated at WIPP in which spontaneous ignition of the contents of a CH-TRU waste container, combined with a flow of air to the burning waste material, results in fire propagation to adjacent containers and throughout the storage room. The Waste Drum Fire Propagation Task Force was formed to evaluate the credibility of a fire propagation scenario. Goals of the task force included evaluation of existing information regarding the likelihood of waste drum fire propagation, determination of the credibility of such a scenario at WIPP, and assessment of the need for salt backfill as a fire deterrent in TRU storage areas. The analysis presented in this report assumes no backfilling of the emplaced waste. It was recognized by the Task Force, however, that if the results of this analysis indicate that a propagating fire (assuming no backfill) is a credible event at WIPP, the potential effectiveness of salt backfill as well as other methods of fire control would need to be evaluated. The approach used to resolve these concerns as well as conclusions reached by the Task Force are described in subsequent sections. 10 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs