Combustion of cables used in nuclear power plants

Journal article, 2026

The combustion and subsequent reactions of cables found in nuclear power plants are investigated, including chlorosulfonated cables (CSPE cables) and a Low-smoke zero-halogen cables (LSZH cables). In some cases, the cables are irradiated with 1MGy of gamma radiation before combustion. Iodine is added to the gas phase to investigate the potential formation of organic iodides. The combustion process can be followed online with the help of FTIR. The combustion of the CSPE cable mainly releases HCl, SO2 and CS2 and aliphatic hydrocarbons. If the cables are pre-irradiated, the species released are largely the same, but the releases are lower. The LSZH cable required higher temperatures to pyrolyze and gave significant releases of acetaldehyde. This cable was not irradiated. The addition of iodine results in the formation of methyl iodide (CH3I) for the LSZH cable at 450°C. CH3I also reacts with other organics released in the combustion, forming isopropanol. The same happens for the unirradiated CSPE cable, but to a much lower degree.