| The objective of this work is to develop a methodology for the evaluation of a fire protection system in a nuclear power plant and demonstrate the feasibility of encoding this method in a computer program. A Monte Carlo simulation has been developed, it is divided into the four phases of a fire scenario: ignition, detection, suppression and propagation. The ignition model consists of probabilistically determining at what location within the zone a fire will occur.;The detection model is divided into two components. The first is the automatic detection model, which calculates the fire's physical symptoms (heat, smoke concentration) and compares them against the threshold values of the detectors specified for the zone to determine a time-to-detection. The second part is the human detection model; this evaluates the time required for a human to observe and report a fire.;If detection is successful, the suppression model determines if the fire is effectively extinguished, and if so, the time required to do so. This model is also divided into an automatic and human component. The automatic phase models the actions of sprinkler systems, while the human aspect deals with the fire brigade response and effectiveness, and the use of manually operated suppression equipment.;The propagation model is embedded in a deterministic, control-volume computer code which calculates the fire scenario history. Propagation is limited to within the zone.;A computer program, FIRES, is described which supports the developed models. FIRES is an interactive graphics package providing a simple means of establishing the many input parameters. In addition to allowing parameter values to be easily set or modified, the graphics provides a convenient display mode for the results of a simulation.;The test cases run show the software to be functional and the model capable of providing reasonable and interpretable results. FIRES is intended as a prototype model; many recommendations to increase the model's realism and to make the software more efficient and user-friendly are given. |
