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US 5,347,556 AGranted
Corium shield
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsDouglas B. McDonald, Carol E. Buchholz
Life of this patent
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AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsDouglas B. McDonald, Carol E. Buchholz
Estimating the term…
A shield for restricting molten corium from flowing into a water sump disposed in a floor of a containment vessel includes upper and lower walls which extend vertically upwardly and downwardly from the floor for laterally bounding the sump. The upper wall includes a plurality of laterally spaced apart flow channels extending horizontally therethrough, with each channel having a bottom disposed coextensively with the floor for channeling water therefrom into the sump. Each channel has a height and a length predeterminedly selected for allowing heat from the molten corium to dissipate through the upper and lower walls as it flows therethrough for solidifying the molten corium therein to prevent accumulation thereof in the sump.
A shield for restricting flow of molten corium released from a nuclear reactor core disposed in a reactor pressure vessel inside a containment vessel so that said molten corium does not flow into a water sump disposed in a floor of the containment vessel, comprising:
A corium shield for restricting flow of molten corium released from a nuclear reactor core disposed in a reactor pressure vessel inside a containment vessel so that said molten corium does not flow into a water sump disposed in a floor of the containment vessel, comprising:
A corium shield for restricting flow of molten corium released from a nuclear reactor core disposed in a reactor pressure vessel inside a containment vessel so that said molten corium does not flow into a water sump disposed in a floor of the containment vessel, comprising an upper wall extending vertically upwardly from said floor and laterally bounding said sump for blocking fluid flow into said sump from said floor, wherein said upper wall has a flow channel extending horizontally therethrough, said channel having a bottom disposed coextensively with said floor for channeling water therefrom through said upper wall into said sump, and said channel having a height and a length selected for allowing heat from said molten corium to dissipate upon flow of said molten corium through said channel so that said molten corium is solidified therein.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.