COMPBRN IIIe—a computer code for probabilistic fire risk analysis

Abstract

The COMPBRN code has been used extensively to predict deterministically the time-to-damage of critical components in nuclear power plant fire risk analyses. Because there is a significant amount of uncertainties in the input parameters used in room fire simulations, the assessment of the damage time of the specified components must be performed probabilistically. This paper presents an updated version of the code, called COMPBRN IIIe, which emphasizes the importance of parameter uncertainty propagation by incorporating capabilities to provide probability distributions for component damage times. COMPBRN IIIe eliminates several errors from its previous versions and incorporates a user-friendly environment to assist users in preparing input files. With these improvements, the code can significantly reduce the time and effort required in the performance of a probabilistic fire risk assessment. A compartment fire simulation is also provided to demonstrate the application of the code.