Systems and methods for geothermal reactor passive cooling

Abstract

Passive safety systems cool reactors using surrounding ground as a heat sink. A coolant flow channel may loop around the reactor and then pass outside, potentially through a containment building, into surrounding ground. No active components need be used in example embodiment safety systems, which may be driven entirely by gravity-based natural circulation. The coolant loop may be air-tight and seismically-hardened and filled with any coolant such as water, air, nitrogen, a noble gas, a refrigerant, etc. The ground may include a soil of grey limestone, soft grey fine sandy clay, grey slightly silty sandy gravel, etc. or any other fill with desired heat-transfer characteristics. Coolant fins and/or jackets with secondary coolants may be used on the coolant loop. The coolant loop may be buried at any constant or variable depth, and the reactor and containment may also be buried in the ground.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.