The National Atomic Energy Commission (Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica) is the organization responsible for nuclear energy research and development in Argentina. Created in 1950, its mission is the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. CNEA operates research reactors at the Bariloche Atomic Centre in San Carlos de Bariloche as well as at the Constituyentes Atomic Centre and the Ezeiza Atomic Centre in Ezeiza in Buenos Aires.
Fire protection is of unparalleled importance in operations involving nuclear power. Fire incident investigations revealed that a fire incident in one area can damage important components and systems in another. Consequently, a fire in such interlinked systems can cause a chain of events, that can compromise the capability of safely shutting down any critical systems, leading to disastrous consequences. Therefore, the presence of fire protection systems and procedures are essential in order to safeguard the premises and the personnel.
Design, install and commission a reliable automatic fire suppression system for the protection of thirty electrical panels of the new laboratory of the Constituent Atomic Centre of the CNEA. The facility houses expensive equipment for the performance of mission critical operations. The task is to safeguard the personnel and the specialized equipment and facilities used at the Atomic Center. This calls for a compact, modular and dependable solution capable of suppressing fires while significantly reducing the risk of collateral damage.
FirePro solutions are efficient and effective and can protect from multiple classes of fire. The modularity, compactness and 15-year product lifespan are some of the benefits offered by the technology. Yet, what sets FirePro apart from other technologies is that it can be designed to tolerate small leakages that can lead to partial agent escape. The technology is engineered to suppress and prevent fire re-ignition even with a challenged enclosure integrity. Finally, the FirePro fire suppression agent is ecofriendly and will not contaminate the site post discharge.
The fire protection engineers of Matafuegos Georgia were tasked to protect this critical national asset with a FirePro solution since it combined all the required operational and technical parameters. The engineers designed and installed the systems according to the national and international requirements. FirePro is now an essential component of the multiple layers of fire protection for their safety systems and is primed to activate and fight fire within the Electrical Panels.