ML19312D191

Forwards BNL Input to Plant Fire Protection Review,Items 3.1.4,3.1.6,3.2.5,3.2.2,3.3.3 & 3.1.14.Water Suppression Sys,Gas Suppression Sys,Flame Retardant Coatings & Air Breathing Apparatus Are Satisfactory & Should Be Accepted

ML19312D191
Person / Time
Site:	Vermont Yankee File:NorthStar Vermont Yankee icon.png
Issue date:	03/17/1980
From:	Randy Hall BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY
To:	Ferguson R Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
NUDOCS 8003210444
Download: ML19312D191 (6)

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BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY m',z.,y 3+ .

ASSCCIATED UNIVERSITIES, INC.

Lcten. New Vcrk 11973 Ceportmentof NuclectEnergp ' (510) 345 2144 w:

-March 17, 1980.

'Mr. Robertil.: Ferguson

'P1 ant Systems Branch ~

-.U.S. Nuclear. Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555--

'RE: { Vermont: Yankee, Fire Protection! Review, Items 3.1.4, 3.1.6, 3.2.5, 3.2.2,.

3.2~.3, and 3.1.14

Dear Bob:

Enclosed is the' Brookhaven National Laboratory input to Vermont Yankee for all the items that- we have on hand that were-not previously completed.

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? , s f - >ltem:3.1.4T # Water Suppfess' ion Systems-

. n D(( IThe=SER; states thatl a manual' dryl pipe water'. sprinkler system will-~ be provided-E d "'

6 f rP each : diesel igenerator; room. An area preaction water sprinkler system wil_1

[be5provided'at-theTcable penetration?areaLat grade: elevation in the reactor ~

Jv 'buildi.ng.= The turbine building : lay-down area used for parking motor vehicles -

willE be

protected byJan automatic sprinkler-system or motor vehicles will. not ibelstoredginL this area. The diesel 1 driven fire pumo will be. isolated from the

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electric moto'r driven fire. pumpJand; service: water pumps by the-addition of a -

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- noncombustiblefwalixequivalent- to afone-hour fire ' rating with the top ~ opening

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[ protected by aniautoi.ctic water sprinkler system.

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10esignjetails;on .3.1~ 4 Water Suppression Systems.were submitted by the - .

clicensee on August -14,c 1978~ and January;17,1980. - The~ information. included t L(1) dry / pipe sprinkler system foriea'c h diesel generator-room (2) sprinkler:

. ' Jsystem. for: cable p' enetration area'(3) deluge system for. turbine building lay-idownfarea, and;(4) sprinkler system over diesel fire pump area.

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i ThE 6asic design _ criteria for. the manual _ dry pipe water' system were-accepted-

<by us in!our: letter to you of January 10,.1980.- The balance of the design for

. the di6sel ' generator rooms ,is . satisfactory. and.we _ recommend that the staff .ac-

? cept this' item.,z We;are'notVaddressing the fire: barrier here; no'.information has been; submitted,to date.

< . tThe~ design:for=preaction.systemLprotection'theLcable penetration is satisfac-y tory /provi.di_ng. the following- recommendations. are impiemented:

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'W ,l , s a. :The'waterJfeed to the. preaction system is independent of the hose sta-o . . ition'supplyLin the area of; protection so that the p' reaction system -

m c pressure willinot.;be seriously- reduced when the nearby hose stations are'used.-

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bE DActuation of..the system is by smoke ~ detectors since thisl type of de-

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Jtector:is most: responsive to. cable fires.

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iThel design for7the automaticideluge system protecting the turbine laydown area 1

iis? acceptable contingent Lupon early: wa'rning . detection:for system actuation.

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LTh' ear'lyWarnifng? detection ;shoul d be i appropri ate for, the combustibl es i nvol ve*

• • s Jand ~we- recommend;that the' details f of; this detection" system be' submitted to the -

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The design:for the?s~prinkisrosystem protectingLthe di.esel fire pump .is accept .

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,,-- fabl e iprovidi ng;thelfoll owi ng} recommendations t are impl emented. " _

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? i g,7 en faMAfwiter:flowIswitchiwith ann'u'nciatiion in(the: control

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Cprovided;for :this.: system 'so' that the operators Lwill3know that- the -sys '

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l Jf' Lb.MThe feed forithe system.sh'oul'd[be: on- the system side of the. pump.- d itolation valves so that the sprinkler will not be disabled during l (diesel' fire pump maintenance.~ ~ l

~B.ased Opon:the' above review we- find 3.1.4_ Water Suppression Systems. satisfac-tory;and:we recommend that the staff: accept this item.

Item 3.1.6 D' - Gas Suppression Systems

The'SER states that the CO2 system for the cable spreading area and enclosed

-battery room 'will- be modified to make it an automatically actuated system. . An K  : automatic CO2 suppression system will be provided in the switchgear room.

<This system will be used ~to provide a backup manually actuated system for.the cable spreading area. The diesel; driven fire water pump day tank room will be

protected by;an automatic l gas: suppression system.

0n January 10, 1980 an acceptance letter was forwarded by BNL to the staff on

<3'.1.6,; Gas Suppression' Systems. In this ' letter. approval was given for chang-ing the gas suppression system in the diesel fire pump _ day tank room to auto-matic sprinklers.- The licensee's January 17, 1980 submittal indicates the

. diesel fire pump. day tank room will: be protected by an automatic carbon diox-ide system actuated by the-existing. flame detector within theiroom. A 507, concentration ~will-be obtained within the room.-

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. Based upon the above review we find the gas suppression _ system protecting the 1 diesel fire' pump day. tank room acceptable to;us and'we recommend that.the

staff accept this partiof item 3.1.6..

The above1 referenced January 10~, 1980 letter also approved the design criteria

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for the gas suppression systems in the' cable spreading room (including battery.

froom)'and switchgear room. The only exception was covered under 3.2.5, Gas '

- Suppression System of.the SER.- Thisiwas on-sequence.of detector. response for system actuation. ' The licensee ~ under cover-letter ' dated January 17, 1980 ad-

' dressed the' actuation sequence.~ This has now been satisfactorily answered under item 3.2.5.

'These parts of. item 3.1'.6 is now~ satisfactory and we recommend that the staff

. accept:it.-

Item-3.2.5:- Gas Suppression Systems _

-Section 3.2.5'of- the. SER requires' the licensee to provide design criteria for the automatic actuation of carbon dioxide systems -in the cabl.e spreading room 3 cluding battery room)- and switchgear room. ' Included in this criteria will

helinterlock features incorporated to insure personnel _ life . safety when king;in~the_ area.-

cThe'11censee'sisubmittal, dated Septemb'er 14, 1979, indicated that system

actuation 'for

both . areas protected. by carbon dioxide will ' be .similar. A' pro-

- posed ionization detection. system using Lthe counting principal would actuate Jthe~ s~uppression system in each area.; The: counting module was set _ to receive f threeisuccessive alamsibefore: system actuation. Onithe receipt of each sig-

- inalJfrom a~ detector the: fire ~alam control ' panel initiated ~a response func-

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. . iThe firstLdetector'act'uated causes local: alarm bells and local and remote

-fannunciation ofca fire sign' l.a _ Remote annunciation will -be in the control

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.roombThe second detector actuated causes automatic closure ~of associated fire

dampers; and room exhaust fans. The thirc Jetector actuated causes carbon idioxideldischarge-into the ' protected area and'provides local and remote indi-

cation that the carbonidioxideLsystem has been activated.

Both the.' detection- system and the. trip circuit (including at ort -switch) will

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"be. electrically; supervised.tolannunciate a trouble: signal in the control room.

The' backup suppression system for the. cable ~ spreading area is the switchgear

. room CO 2 . system. eThis.will be. actuated 'by a manual pull: station.

Bothisystems'willlhaveLa thirty (30) second time delay before actual discharge

.of_the suppressing agent. This will all'ow sufficient evacuation time for per-

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sonnel within the-area. :0n' each system an override switch will be provided to L enable-local ~~ control for manual firefighting. - Use 'of these-switches will be strictly controlled by firefighting: training ~ and procedures.

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.We have. reviewed the design. drawings "or detector location, , pacing and actua-tion; sequence. Twondetectors will be located in.each deep beamed area in the

'switchgear. room while. detectors are located over high cable concentrations in Lthe cable ~ spreading.roomf and ov'er the penetration area of the cable spreading

. room. The detection system is presently programmed for three detectors to

. actuate before carbon dioxide is released. With this _ logic, and the uncer-

tainties in detector siting due to the room geometry, the response time in certain areas may ~be too long because.of ceiling obstructions. ' The delayed discharge may allow the fire to obtain a foothold and become deep seated.

Theidetectio'n system has the flexibility to initiate discharge of the suppres-

. sing agent on the first, second or. third detector. actuation. The licensee in their January;17,1980. letter has -committed to change the sequence of opera-

.. tion.= 'The first detector.will- initiate the closing of' dampers, shutdown of

' fans and annunciate Lin the control room.- The second detector to slann will initiate the operation of the gas suppression system.

'We find the design ofithe detection system for. initiation of the various gas:

. suppression systems satisfactory andl recommend that the staff accept this- i item.= j Item 3.2.2 - Flame ' Retardant Coatings < .

The.use of flame retarda'nt coatings' on electrical cables in trays and risers-

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in the:switchgear ruom has been. recommended by the staff. ' The licensee will i evaluate:the . impact of flame retardant coatings on cable.derating to determine i

, . if: sufficient design l margin ex1sts to use this' method to improve the fire _ re-

= sistanceJof electrical: cables..

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! The71icensee submittal l dated?Januaryz 30,11978, indicate! that' the~ application t Lof ~aifire retardant. coating to all ? electrical .: ables in the switchgear room is

'not feasiblen LThe cables.'do'not have. sufficient decating _ margin for safe E _ loperationfof:thewnit.~

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- 3Theilicansee has' committed to providing _an automatic total flooding. carbon dioxide : suppress'on system within-the. room. ' The system will be actuated by smoke! detectors and discharge sufficient carbon dioxide to maintain a 50% con-

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? centration fori10 minutes.

LThellicensee's September:14,1979 letter indicated they would coat the cable

in cable trayLat'divis'ional crossovers. The' cables will be coated for a mini-mum 4 distance of 5Jfect beyond the nearest. redundant' division cables. A fire

. stop'.will .be provided in any conduit' connecting one safety train to another.

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> In(addition, where conduit containing safety related cable from one division crosses cable tray containing safety related. cables from a redundant: division in:the;Switchgear Room, Vermont Yankee will provide a_ shield.. This shield twill consist- of a fire retardant coating' on the cables.in the tray. The coat-Li ng williextend to,a minimum ~of 2-1/2: feet beyond the conduit crossing.

fBaseduponthe'abovereview,wefindthe~ licensee'scommittmentincoating.

7 selective cables in certain areas and configurations acceptable and recommend that-the-staff ~ accept this 1_ tem.

Item 3.2.3 - Fire Water 1.oop-The SER1 states that the licensee is evaluating the alternatives to. maintain an adequate. supply of-fire water in the ~ event of a failure in'one of the fire water feeds which'is located next to and may damage the redundant feed to the underground loop.

"The' licensee -responded to the SER provision on September 14,-1979 and again_on January .17,1980 by stating that no modifications are required based on var-

-ious . installation features. The licensee: stated that calculations were made to back up their^ cosition; however no calculations were supplied.

We suggest that due to their very close proximity, the two mains could bc lost Ictithe same: time thereby endangering .all fire protection water supply. In

-order to' support at our position, we recently contacted the. Suffolk County-N Water Authority, the American Iron and Steel Institute, the Cast Iron and Pipe

-Research Association and the American Water Works' Association. . The consensus-of;opin. ion that we-got from-these contacts was th'at good water main separation

'was essential 1 so that one bad leak and wash-out wouldn't disable the other

' main; good separation was' considered to be 20-20 feet and'not the few feet of separati.on normally found in a trench.-

We_.~ recommend th'at the staff require a minimum fire main' separation of_ 25 feet at. spectfied ~in:the. ANS/ ANSI; standard 59.4.

Item'3.1.14 '-rAir Breathing Apparatus The SER state' s tha't the capabilityito maintain a supply of; breathing- air for a

. fire;emergencyfuse will' be upgraded to coverta' minimum time Linterval of six

^ hours. !Self-contained breathing' apparatus, including spare bottles,'will be' r _ Eplaced Lfor ready access ~ byfcontroleroom personnel . .

Theilicensee responded in their January 17,1980 letter that Vermont- Yankee -

lhasipurchasedffive BioPak.60P's for fire'_ brigade _use. The BioPak 60P -sup- ,

? plied by BioMarine Industries', Inc., is'.a closed circui_t oxygen breathing '

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gapparatusi; tItfis a:: positive pressure. device, 'andLwill supply more than sixty.

~ * ' sminutes'of breathing time from ~each;oxygentbottle. Sufficient-spare oxygen

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lbottles'-and Carbon' Dioxide Absorbers have been purchased' to supply.six . hours.

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y . ': of(breathing: time.forJeach;of the five shift fire brigade members.

This answer"is . satisfactory?as to the amount of breathing air ~available. How-ever, the-licensee did ~not: address'the requirement 1 for placing the,.self con-

'tained breathing / apparatus..for ready access by control room personnel. 'We isuggest,that the. staff' request:the licensee to. document that this part of tihe item has'been~done. -We recommend-that;the-. staff' accept.this item based.on the fulfillment :of thisfrequirement. ,

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