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US 11,594,342 B2Granted
Evacuated containment vessel for nuclear reactor
AssigneeNuScale Power, LLC
InventorsJose N. Reyes, Jr., John T. Groome
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system includes a containment vessel configured to prohibit a release of a coolant, and a reactor vessel mounted inside the containment vessel. An outer surface of the reactor vessel is exposed to below atmospheric pressure, wherein substantially all gases are evacuated from within the containment vessel.
Claims17
A power module assembly comprising:
- a reactor vessel containing a reactor core submerged in coolant;
- a containment vessel encapsulating the reactor core and forming a containment region outside of the reactor vessel, wherein the containment region is completely dry during a normal operation of the power module assembly;
- a flow limiter positioned between the reactor vessel and the containment vessel, wherein the containment vessel is configured to receive at least a portion of the coolant from the reactor vessel through the flow limiter during an emergency operation of the power module assembly, wherein the containment vessel is configured to prohibit the portion of the coolant received from the reactor vessel from escaping out of the containment vessel, and wherein the flow limiter is configured to stop release of the portion of the coolant when a pressure in the containment region exceeds a threshold value;
- and
- a one-way flow valve positioned between the reactor vessel and the containment vessel to
- (a) permit at least some of the portion of the coolant received from the reactor vessel to return therethrough from the containment vessel back into the reactor vessel and
- (b) inhibit the coolant from flowing therethrough from the reactor vessel to the containment vessel.
4 more elements
A power module assembly comprising:
- a reactor vessel housing a reactor core, wherein the reactor vessel further houses a coolant during a normal mode of operation;
- a containment vessel encapsulating the reactor vessel and defining a containment region outside of the reactor vessel, wherein the containment region is completely dry during the normal mode of operation;
- a first valve positioned to permit the release of at least a portion of the coolant, in a vapor form, from the reactor vessel and into the containment region during an emergency mode of operation, and wherein the first valve is configured to stop release of the coolant when a pressure in the containment region exceeds a threshold value;
- and
- a second valve, wherein the second valve is a one-way valve positioned to (a) permit at least some of the portion of the coolant received in the containment region to return therethrough back into the reactor vessel after the emergency mode of operation and (b) inhibit the coolant from flowing therethrough from the reactor vessel to the containment vessel during the emergency mode of operation.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.