As a result of the Fukushima nuclear incident, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a Request for Information requiring all operating nuclear power plants in the U.S. to re-evaluate their design-basis flood estimates.
As part of the flooding protection at Nuclear Power Plants (NPP), penetrations in external (and internal) walls at the NPP that allow such items as cables, conduits, cable trays, pipes, and ducts to pass through the walls should be water tight to preclude water from flowing through them and affecting the performance of safety related components in the NPP.
As part of the flooding protection at Nuclear Power Plants arising from design basis floods, penetrations in walls at the NPP that allow such items as cables, conduits, cable trays, pipes, and ducts to pass through the walls should be essentially water tight to preclude water from flowing through them and affecting the performance of safety related components in the NPP. Flood seals for penetrations (FSP) are installed to seal these openings to ensure water tightness and integrity of the wall penetrations.
Currently there are no known standard test methods or acceptance criteria for FSP’s and their effectiveness to water pressure heads when subject to degradation due to drying and cracking, immersion under water for long periods, flooding events, vibrations from items such as piping passing through them, hydrodynamic forces and impacts by debris during flooding events, etc. Thus, there is a need to establish testing standards, criteria and protocols to evaluate the effectiveness and performance of these seals.
The contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to perform the project, “Flood Penetration Seal Performance at Nuclear Power Plants.”
The government anticipates a contract period of performance of January 13, 2015 to January 12, 2018.
Further details are available via Solicitation Number: NRC-HQ-60-14-R-0014. The response deadline is Dec. 30, 2014.