Fires of electrical cabinets

International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Thermal-Hydraulics (NURETH-11), Avignon, 3-6 Octobre 2005

Laurence Rigollet, Stéphane Mélis.

As fire of electrical cabinets causes some hazard to nuclear safety, the French Institut for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) has conducted the CARMELA program to investigate this topic. The program was carried out in three stages. The two first stages consisted in analytical experiments where the combustible was simulated by thin plastic pieces and where the different parameters that influence the fire could be easily varied. The third stage involved real relay cabinets. This article first describes the experimental facility and the test matrix. The phenomenology of electrical cabinet fires is then exposed and the most influencing parameters are identified from the analytical experiments: the ventilation comes at first rank but the materials involved are also shown to influence the propagation of the fire. The model developed to represent the fire, and particularly the rate of heat released, is then
presented and the comparison of its results with the measurements performed in the experiments shows that its validity is acceptable.