Fires

DOE-HDBK-3010-94

7.0 Application Examples; Solid Waste Example

5.2.3.2). This bound is considered excessive for this circumstance, but is used

because the resulting release is not large. The initial respirable source term for a

maximally loaded pail is:

100 g * 1.0 * 1E-3 * 1.0 = 0.1 g

For an average pail, the release would be only 2E-3 g.

Less limiting values are used for waste drums, where a reasonably robust container

shields the majority of the material from direct exposure to air or impact. The same

value is assessed to be appropriate for a range of conditions; from a forklift crashing

into and puncturing a drum, to a large object falling on and deforming the drum

during a building collapse. This value is considered very conservative for the lower

end of that range. The bounding ARF and RF are 1E-3 and 0.1 (subsection 5.2.3.2).

For a maximally loaded drum, the initial respirable source term is:

200 g * 1.0 * 1E-3 * 0.1 = 2E-2 g

The estimated release for an average drum loading is 3E-3 g.

Multiple drum involvement could be postulated as well. If a forklift hit a stack of

drums, it might topple, and the third and fourth levels might be assumed to lose their

seals as well. In that case, if eight drums lost seals from the fall, and one drum was

hit by the forklift, the initial respirable source term is ~ 0.2 g if all drums were

maximally loaded, or 3E-2 g if all had average plutonium loadings.

B. Fires. The basic distinction between mixed waste fires is whether the waste is

contained in a packaged/bulk form as opposed to loosely strewn. Subsection 5.2.1.1

assessed bounding ARF and RF values to be 5E-4 and 1.0 for packaged waste.

Subsection 5.2.1.2 assessed bounding ARF and RF values to be 1E-2 and 1.0 for

uncontained combustible waste. The latter value is considered very conservative for

many applications, but is likely to bound virtually all applications of interest.

Any fire involving a pail of waste must be considered packaged unless some precursor

event has destroyed the pail and dispersed the material within. The waste pail will

burn and would not support any significant internal pressurization that would disperse

the waste in the event of an external fire. The initial respirable source term for a

single, maximally loaded pail is:

100 g * 1.0 * 5E-4 * 1.0 = 5E-2 g

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