General Electric Company

Shyam Satinder Khorana

Douglas M Gluntz

Perng-Fei Gou

Craig Delany Sawyer

Yee Kwong Cheung

Hubert Allen Upton

Jimmy Frank Galtman

A heat removal system for the under reactor pressure vessel area of a boiling water nuclear reactor system that provides both protection of the containment boundary from attack by molten core debris and cools the molten core debris to prevent a breach of the containment boundary in the unlikely event of a severe accident where the molten core penetrates the lower head of the reactor vessel is described. The heat removal system includes a glass matrix slab positioned adjacent the floor of the containment and a plurality of heat tubes at least partially embedded in the glass matrix slab and extending into the area under the nuclear reactor pressure vessel. The cooling system also includes a passive containment cooling system, and fused vent pipes connecting the suppression pool with the drywell.

Core catcher cooling by heat pipe

Passive aerosol retention apparatus positioned in the connecting vents of a nuclear reactor containment are described. The aerosol retention apparatus minimizes aerosol transport from the lower drywell to the upper drywell of the reactor containment. The retention apparatus includes a substantially cylindrical housing and a flow modulator positioned inside the housing and extending at least partially from a first end to a second end of the housing. The flow modulator includes a helically shaped baffle positioned in the housing so as to be coaxial with the housing. The baffle is coupled at each end to the housing by attachment bars.

Passive aerosol retention apparatus

Modified passive containment cooling systems for cooling a reactor core of a boiling water nuclear reactor are described. The reactor core is positioned in a reactor pressure vessel which is located in a drywell of the nuclear reactor. The passive containment cooling system (PCCS), in one form, includes an IC/PCC pool, a GDCS pool, a suppression pool, and a condensate drain tank. The IC/PCC and the GDCS pool each are substantially isolated from the drywell, and the suppression pool is separated from the drywell by a wall having a spill-over hole therein. An equalizing line extends between the suppression pool and the RPV and is configured to transport water from the suppression pool to the RPV. The condensate drain tank is positioned in the drywell and includes a base wall having a sidewall extending therefrom to define a fluid retaining cavity. A steam inlet line extends from within the drywall to a set of passive containment cooling condensers, which condense steam generated within the drywall to water. A condensate drain line extends from the set of PCC HXrs and into the drain tank retaining cavity so that the water flows from the PCC HXrs and into the retaining cavity. An injection line extends between the retaining cavity and the RPV to facilitate transporting the water from the drain tank and into the RPV to cool the reactor core.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Shyam Satinder Khorana