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Home NRC Library Document Collections NUREG-Series Publications Publications Prepared by NRC Contractors Transient Fire Environment Cable Damageability Test Results (NUREG/CR-4638, SAND86-0839)

Transient Fire Environment Cable Damageability Test Results : Phase 1 (NUREG/CR-4638, SAND86-0839, Volume 1)

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Publication Information

Date Published: September 1986

Prepared by:
Wallace T. Wheelis
Sandia National Laboratories
Albuquerque. New Mexico 87185
Operated by Sandia Corporation
for the U.S. Department of Energy
Under Contract No. DE-AC04-76DP00789

Prepared for:
Electrical Engineering Branch
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001

Under Memorandum of Understanding DOE 40-550-75

NRC FIN A-1010

Availability Notice

Abstract

The results of a series of 13 cable tests using IEEE-383 qualified and unqualified cable are discussed in this report. The purpose of these tests was to determine cable damage response (as indicated by electrical failure) to transient fire environments (temperature vs. time only).

The major insights gained from these tests were that (a) cables terminated in a fire environment are more likely to fail; (b) cable geometry plays a significant role in determining if a cable will fail; (c) convective heat transfer, i.e., high air flow regions, leads to severe cable damage; and (d) based on simulated, air cooled down suppression, neither qualified nor unqualified cables would fail given the suppression actuation times and test profiles used in these tests. This assumes that suppression agents (e.g., water) do not cause damage.

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