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Nuclear Power Plant Electrical Cable Damageability Experiments
(NUREG/CR-2927)
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Publication Information
Printed: October 1982
Sandia National Laboratories
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185
operated by
Sandia Corporation
for the
U.S. Department of Energy
Prepared for Division of Engineering Technology
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
Washington, DC 20555
Under Memorandum of Understanding DOE 40-550-75
NRC FIN No. A1010-2
Availability
Notice
Abstract
Under the direction of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Sandia National Laboratories has been conducting confirmatory
research in fire protection for nuclear power plants.
As a part of this research, a program was developed to
determine the damageability of electrical cable insulation
to thermal radiation in a loaded cable tray. The critical
flux or threshold level at which cable damage occurs in
the form of electrical failure (short from conductor to
tray) and nonpiloted ignition was determined for two types
of electrical cable, one an IEEE-383 qualified cable and
the other an unqualified cable. The critical flux for
electrical failure was determined to be about 18 kW/m 2
for the IEEE-383 qualified cable and about 8 kW/m 2 for
the unqualified cable. The critical flux for nonpiloted
ignition was determined to be about 28 kW/m 2 for the
IEEE-383 qualified cable and about 22 kW/m 2 for the
unqualified cable.
A program was also developed to determine the damageability
of electrical cable insulation to constant temperature,
thermal exposure. Experimental results indicate that
exposure of the IEEE-383 qualified cable to temperatures
greater than 250 0C (480 0 F) for periods of 60 minutes can
cause discoloration, blistering, smoking, loss of flexibility,
and failure to pass a voltage withstand test as
described in the report. Experimental results indicate that
exposure of the unqualified cable to temperatures greater
than 130 0C (265 ° F) for periods of 60 minutes can cause
electrical failure in the form of shorts between
conductors. In addition, the thermal forming temperature of
the unqualified cable jacket material was determined to be
between 170 0 C (340 0 F) and 200*C (390*F).
These results apply only to the two particular types of
electrical cables examined and described in this report, and
would need to be evaluated for any other type of electrical
cable. Thermal aging and radiation exposure efforts were
not included in the investigation.
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