NUCLEAR REACTOR CORE TRAP Russian patent published in 1997 - IPC

FIELD: nuclear power engineering. SUBSTANCE: nuclear reactor core trap installed in concrete cavity of containment has basket with displacer in the form of layers of high-melting elements wherein there are both through vertical channels and horizontal ones for passing emergency coolant and distributing corium. Vertical blind holes in high-melting elements, with bottom in upper position, form local gas compensators of steam and hydrogen explosions and with bottom down, they form corium accumulator. Device for feeding emergency coolant to basket is, essentially, downcomer channel whose upper end communicates with emergency cooling pond and lower one, with annular header in bottom part of concrete cavity. Device for discharging mentioned coolant is made as uptake channel communicating with upper part of basket. Placed between basket and bottom of pressurized tank is cowl provided with hole in central part. Provision is also made for external steam and hydrogen explosion compensators, the former in upper part of annular header and the latter, adjacent to emergency coolant uptake channel. EFFECT: provision for natural emergency-coolant circulation and reduced effect of steam and hydrogen explosions on reactor concrete cavity. 3 cl, 6 dwg