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Clean Hydrogen Partnership

Fire on the cooling system of an alternator

Event

Event ID
182
Quality
Description

The incident occurred in the turbine-generator hall of a nuclear power plant. Hydrogen leaked from the alternator and ignited.
The hydrogen line was purged to stop the leak. The plant employees were able to stop the fire in one hour. An assessment of the concentration of hydrogen in the hall did not reveal the presence of an explosive mixture.

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
H2 coolant system
Failure mode
leak & ignition
Initiating cause
unknown
Root causes
Unknown
Date entry in HIAD
28/02/2009

Facility

Application
Power plant
Sub-application
nuclear power plant
Hydrogen supply chain stage
All components affected

alternator, turbine-generator hall

Process temperature range [C]
Above ambient temperature (50°C to 100°C)
Location type
Confined
Location
industrial area
Operational condition

Emergency & Consequences

Number of fatalities
0
Number of injured persons
0
Property loss (onsite)
0
Post-event summary

Explosivity measurements were made in the whole power plant : no anomaly were found.

Emergency action

The event occurred in the non-nuclear zone of he power plant. The corresponding part of the hydrogen pipe was isolated and purged and the fire extinguished after consumption of all the remaining hydrogen within one hour.

In-depth data

Release type
gas
Involved substances (% vol)
H2 100%
Release temperature [°C]
25
Probable IGNITION SOURCE

References

Sources categories
ARIA
Reference & weblink

Event description in the French database ARIA
https://www.aria.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/accident/24741/
(accessed January 2023)