Event
- Event ID
- 242
- Quality
- Description
A hydrogen leak occurred on a sintering furnace in a manufactory of uranium pellets. The event happened during the restart phase after a period of maintenance. The hydrogen ignited at the location of the electrical connection used for the resistance-heating of the furnace.
The fire damaged the cooling system causing the release of 300 l of water.- Event Initiating system
- Classification of the physical effects
- Hydrogen Release and Ignition
- Nature of the consequences
- fire
- Macro-region
- Europe
- Country
- France
- Date
- Component involved
- reactor / oven / furnace / test chamber
- Failure mode
- leak & ignition
- Initiating cause
- unknown
- Root causes
- Unknown
- Date entry in HIAD
- 01/01/2022
Facility
- Application
- Steel and metals industry
- Sub-application
- uranium processing
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- All components affected
uranium sintering furnace, resistance-heating, water cooling system
- Location type
- Confined
- Location
- industrial area
- Operational condition
- Pre-event occurrences
The event happened at the restart of the furnace after a period of maintenance.
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of fatalities
- 0
- Number of injured persons
- 0
- Post-event summary
300 l of water inundated the facility
- Emergency action
The fire is stopped after closing of the feeding line. The fire has damaged the water pipe.
In-depth data
- Release type
- Gas-liquid mixture
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2,
H2O - Probable IGNITION SOURCE
References
- Sources categories
- ARIA
- Reference & weblink
Event description in the French database ARIA
https://www.aria.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/accident/15508/
(accessed October 2020)
