Specification and qualification of fire detectors used in very high radiation rooms at the Angra-2 nuclear power plant

During the Operation cycle 11 of the Angra-2 Nuclear Power Plant, faults were observed in the optical and ionic fire detectors models installed in very high radiation rooms (pump reactor rooms and sump containment). It was observed that these models were already obsolete and no available for purchase. In addition, as during the operation cycle these rooms are not accessible for maintenance because of the high dose rates, corrective measures only were taken at Outage 2P11 where all detectors were replaced by the new neural fire detector model. This high-tech model was not sufficiently resistant to the high dose rates of the environment rooms and starts to fail in the beginning of the cycle 11. Thereafter, a specific engineering work was developed in partnership with IPEN - Institute of Energy and Nuclear Research to specify and qualify a new model compatible with the electronic Central of the Fire Detection System and Alarm and at the same time resistant to radiation. The fire detectors were subjected to a known gamma radiation rate at the laboratory facilities of IPEN through the gamma irradiation equipment with cobalt radiation source. In this way, it was possible to determine its useful life comparing the total dose absorbed for detector failure and the environmental dose where it was installed in Angra-2. The current approved model was installed during Outage 2P13, and until now, no spurious alarms or failure were observed during the current cycle. (author)