Westinghouse Electric Corporation

Theo Van De Venne

Denis J Altman

Richard E Schwirian

Levi Ike Ezekoye

Timothy K Meneely

Thomas J Laubham

A passive safety system for a nuclear reactor coolant system including a water storage tank, a heat exchanger positioned within the water storage tank and connected to the hot leg, and a core make-up tank having a tank inlet connected to the heat exchanger and a tank outlet connected to a selected location of the nuclear reactor coolant system. Upon the occurrence of an abnormal condition, water flows by natural circulation from the hot leg through the heat exchanger so that heat may be transferred to the water in the water storage tank, and thereafter flows through the core make-up tank and into a selected location of the nuclear reactor coolant system to provide cooling for the reactor core.

Enhanced passive safety system for a nuclear pressurized water reactor

A pressurized water nuclear reactor pressure vessel has an upper core support plate with passageways for the passage of coolant, an upper support plate above the upper core support plate, and peripheral hollow support columns extending upwardly above the passageways in the upper core support plate for supporting the upper support plate above the upper core support plate and for guiding coolant from the passageways into the plenum. Each peripheral support column has a peripherally slotted upper portion for guiding the coolant in the peripheral support column into the plenum and an unslotted lower portion.

Pressurized water reactor vessel with slotted support columns

A primary coolant system of a nuclear power plant for providing coolant to a reactor vessel, the primary coolant system comprises a primary loop for transferring heat away from the reactor vessel. An accumulator tank for containing water under a pressurized, gaseous atmosphere is attached to the primary loop via a coupling, which provides an outlet for the coolant from the accumulator tank to pass to the primary loop. A valve, which includes a pressure sensor that senses the pressure in the accumulator tank and opens or closes the coolant flow in the coupling in response to the sensed pressure, is attached to the coupling for sensing the pressure in the accumulator tank. The valve senses the pressure in the accumulator, causes the coolant to pass substantially through the coupling at a substantially high flow rate when the pressure in the accumulator tank is relatively high and causes the coolant to pass from the accumulator tank to the circulation loop substantially through the coupling at a substantially low rate when the pressure in the accumulator tank is relatively low which, in turn, provides long term cooling of the reactor vessel.

Primary coolant system of a nuclear power plant for providing coolant to

Selectively and remotely disconnectable two-piece drive rod assemblies comprising elongated hub and drive rod portions interconnected by a selectively disconnectable coupling, connect rod clusters within the pressure vessel of a pressurized water reactor system to respectively corresponding drive means. The drive means are selectively operable, through the drive rod assemblies, to move the corresponding rod clusters between fully inserted positions within the lower barrel assembly of the pressure vessel, in telescoping relationship with fuel rod assemblies therein, and to a fully withdrawn position within an inner barrel assembly of the pressure vessel. The rods of each cluster are mounted to and supported by a respectively corresponding spider, in turn connected to the hub portion, the spider supporting the respective cluster on a support plate defining the lower elevation of the inner barrel assembly, in fully inserted positions of the corresponding rod clusters, and support the hubs in parallel axial relationship within the inner barrel assembly. The drive rod portions extend through the calandria and engage the couplings of the corresponding hub portions. The couplings are selectively disconnectable and, when disconnected, permit movement en masse of the calandria and drive rod portions during disassembly and assembly operations. Noninterchangeable couplings of first and second types corresponding to first and second types of rod clusters assure that incorrect couplings are not made in the assembly operations.

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Murrysville, PA, United States of America

Theo Van De Venne