Towards a Unified Approach to Fire Safety in Nuclear Power Plants

Abstract

North American standards in nuclear fire safety have been developed for specific reactor types. NFPA standards 804 and 805 were specific to light water reactors while CSA N293, prior to 2012, was explicit to CANDU reactors. Recent trends have seen some movement towards technology neutral standards in North America. With the advent of several power reactor technologies emerging in the market, a need may be realized towards a common approach to fire safety. This paper will attempt to provide an overview of the current approaches to fire safety, and distill the common methodologies and factors for fire safety that can be utilized in a unified standard.