Evaluation of available data for probabilistic risk assessments (PRA) of fire events at nuclear power plants

Several crucial parameters are needed in the assessment of fire risk in nuclear power plants. Among those that need to be developed from a data base are: (1) fire frequency, (2) fire detection time, and (3) fire suppression time. Currently, the data base for nuclear power plants is not large enough to develop these parameters, considering fuel location, fuel geometry, combustion properties, enclosure geometry, etc. This study attempts to augment the nuclear data base by investigating the usefulness of other nonnuclear data bases which contain fire incident loss experience of occupancy classes having somewhat similar physical features and fire protection engineering systems normally found in nuclear power plants. This study has found that indeed some useful information can be gleaned from nonnuclear sources; in particular, detection and suppression times. However, other fire-risk data needs such as fire frequency and fire size would require other forms of data searches and data analyses that at this stage can only be conceptualized