Fuse and application of said fuse to the construction of an emergency shutdown system for a nuclear reactor
AssigneeElectricite de France (Service National)
InventorsHubert Henri Leon Taulier, Gerard Brugeilles
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Abstract
A fuse device for an automatic emergency shutdown system in fast reactors provides a coupling between a casing tube placed within a fuel can and a series of neutron-absorbing masses held together above the reactor core under normal operating conditions but released in free fall to the lower portion of the casing tube at the level of the reactor core as a result of melting of the fuse when operating characteristics such as temperature or neutron flux attain a level which exceeds a predetermined threshold.
Claims7
A coupling device or fuse between two components of elongated shape, said coupling being capable of breaking if a given physical characteristic of the space in which said device is located exceeds a predetermined threshold value, wherein said device comprises a first element for providing a mechanical connection between the two components, said element being formed of material which retains its mechanical properties when said physical characteristic is below the threshold value, and a second element formed of material which melts when said characteristic attains said threshold value and causing when in contact with the material of the first element an exothermic reaction with said material producing a temperature which is higher than the melting point of the material of the first element and also the formation of any alloy would be such as to have a melting point below said threshold value, means included in said coupling for separating the first element from the second element when said characteristic is below said threshold value and allowing engagement of said materials with each other after melting of the material constituting the second element.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.