Liquid absorbent safety device for a nuclear reactor
First Claim
1. A safety shut down assembly for a nuclear reactor including a reactor core, said safety shut down assembly comprising:
- a vertical, closed, cylindrical casing for partial vertical placement within the reactor core,a first horizontal, transverse partition dividing said casing into vertically upper and lower compartments,means communicating said compartments,said upper compartment being located in said reactor above the core,a liquid absorbent within said casing in an amount initially nearly filling said lower compartment,said lower compartment being situated in the core of said reactor,means for gas pressurization of the lower compartment for forcing liquid absorbent through said communicating means and into said upper compartment,an axial vertical pipe extending through said cylindrical casing within said lower compartment and having an end external of said cylindrical casing closed off by a closing member defining a physically destructible seal whose destruction is directly responsive to a predetermined neutronic flow corresponding to a reactor malfunction;
whereby, destruction of said closure seal opens said lower compartment directly to the reactor core to cause liquid absorbent stored within the upper compartment to move into the lower compartment for shut down of said reactor.
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Abstract
A liquid absorbent safety device for a nuclear reactor, constituted by a cylindrical tank comprising two communicating superposed compartments. The upper compartment situated above the reactor is filled with liquid absorbent surmounted by a gas under pressure. The lower compartment situated in the core is filled with gas under pressure and is provided with a connection to the outside terminated by a closing member sensitive to the operating conditions of the reactor. If the reactor begins to malfunction, the closing member is destroyed thereby causing depressurization of the lower compartment and the precipitation of the liquid absorbent into the lower compartment.
7 Citations
6 Claims
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1. A safety shut down assembly for a nuclear reactor including a reactor core, said safety shut down assembly comprising:
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a vertical, closed, cylindrical casing for partial vertical placement within the reactor core, a first horizontal, transverse partition dividing said casing into vertically upper and lower compartments, means communicating said compartments, said upper compartment being located in said reactor above the core, a liquid absorbent within said casing in an amount initially nearly filling said lower compartment, said lower compartment being situated in the core of said reactor, means for gas pressurization of the lower compartment for forcing liquid absorbent through said communicating means and into said upper compartment, an axial vertical pipe extending through said cylindrical casing within said lower compartment and having an end external of said cylindrical casing closed off by a closing member defining a physically destructible seal whose destruction is directly responsive to a predetermined neutronic flow corresponding to a reactor malfunction; whereby, destruction of said closure seal opens said lower compartment directly to the reactor core to cause liquid absorbent stored within the upper compartment to move into the lower compartment for shut down of said reactor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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Specification