Commissariat a L'energie Atomique

Jean-Marie Berniolles

Patrick Jogand

Sabino Gallo

A cylindrical inner vessel containing the reactor core is placed coaxially within a main vessel. Heat exchangers are disposed within the annular space formed between the two vessels, each heat exchanger being delimited by an outer shell and a coaxial inner shell which surrounds a central feed duct having a vertical axis. The upper end of the annular space communicates with a flared end portion of the central duct through a first circular window formed in the inner shell. The lower end of the annular space communicates with the region located between the inner vessel and the main vessel through a second circular window formed in the outer shell.

Fast neutron reactor

A fast reactor of the sodium-cooled type comprises a vertical main vessel for supporting the reactor core and an internal primary vessel for separating the hot sodium discharged from the reactor core from the cold sodium discharged from the heat exchangers. The primary vessel essentially has a shape of revolution about the vertical axis of the main vessel and is provided with a lateral skew section traversed by the heat exchangers and the sodium pumps. A turned-down edge located at the exterior of the primary vessel and forming an extension of the skew section is joined to the main vessel at the lower end.

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Pierrevert, France

Jean-Marie Berniolles