Event
- Event ID
- 502
- Quality
- Description
- A mixture of radiolytic hydrogen and oxygen exploded in the off-gas sytem, due to improper grounding of filters. It resulted in an electrical charge which ignited the mixture.
[Zalosh and Short, 1978] - Event Initiating system
- Classification of the physical effects
- Hydrogen Release and Ignition
- Nature of the consequences
- Macro-region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Date
- Main component involved?
- Off-Gas System (Pipe)
- How was it involved?
- Internal Explosion (H2-O2 Mixture)
- Initiating cause
- Inadequate Grounding
- Root causes
- Root CAUSE analysis
- The ROOT CAUSE could be attributed to a wrong design, due to the improper grounding. It is further surprising that the concentrations of hydrogen and oxygen were allowed to exceed the lower flammability limit in the off-gas system.
Facility
- Application
- Power Plant
- Sub-application
- nuclear power plant
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- Location type
- Confined
- Location description
- Industrial Area
- Operational condition
- Unknown (No additional details provided)
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of injured persons
- 0
- Number of fatalities
- 0
- Currency
- US$
- Property loss (onsite)
- 0
Event Nature
- Release type
- gas mixture
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2,
O2 - Ignition delay
- Static electricity
References
- Reference & weblink
Table II - Industrial Incidents of Appendix A of Zalosh and Short<br />
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF HYDROGEN FIRE AND EXPLOSION INCIDENTS<br />
Quarterly Report No. 2 for Period December 1, 1977 - February 28, 1978<br />
https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6566131<br />
(accessed September 2020)
JRC assessment
- Sources categories
- Zalosh
