Westinghouse Electric Company LLC

James H Scobel

Jeffrey T Dederer

Yasir Arafat

Adam Torrance

Jonathan C Durfee

C Patrick Keegan

Richard F Wright

A system usable in a nuclear environment provides a reservoir of liquefied breathable gas in fluid communication with a deployment system. The deployment system uses a stream of the breathable gas from the reservoir to operate a gas turbine which runs an electrical generator that is mechanically connected therewith to generate electrical power that is stored in a battery bank. The stream of breathable gas then flows from the turbine and is split between a heat exchanger that is situated in heat exchange relation with the interior region of the main control room and an outlet that provides breathable gas to the control room. The portion of the stream that flows through the heat exchanger cools the main control room. The other portion of the stream that provides breathable gas to the main control room also recirculates the atmosphere in the control room.

Systems usable in nuclear environment for providing breathing gas

System usable in nuclear environment for providing breathing gas

The reactor vessel of a nuclear reactor installation which is suspended from the cold leg nozzles in a reactor cavity is provided with a lower thermal insulating barrier spaced from the reactor vessel that has a hemispherical lower section that increases in volume from the center line of the reactor to the outer extent of the diameter of the thermal insulating barrier and smoothly transitions up the side walls of the vessel. The space between the thermal insulating harrier and the reactor vessel forms a chamber which can be flooded with cooling water through passive valving to directly cool the reactor vessel in the event of a severe accident. The passive inlet valve for the cooling water includes a buoyant door that is normally maintained sealed under its own weight and floats open when the cavity is Hooded. Passively opening steam vents are also provided.

Nuclear reactor vessel fuel thermal insulating barrier

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Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America

James H Scobel