Passive containment air cooling for nuclear power plants

A nuclear reactor containment comprising:

• a solid metal shell having sides and a cover, sized to surround at least a portion of a primary coolant loop of a nuclear reactor system, the solid metal shell having an exterior surface;
• an outer housing having sides and a roof, substantially surrounding and spaced from the solid metal shell forming an annular passage around the exterior surface of the sides of the solid metal shell that communicates with a passage between the cover and the roof;
• a fluid intake communicating between the outside of the outer housing and a lower portion of the annular passage;
• a fluid exit extending through a portion of the roof;
• a water reservoir positioned over the cover of the solid metal shell and configured to drain water over the cover under selected accident conditions, the water reservoir being sized to drain water over the solid metal shell for a preselected period of time;
• and
• a swirl vane assembly supported in the annular passage between an interior side of the sides of the housing and the exterior surface of the sides of the solid metal shell, the swirl vane assembly being configured to impart sufficient motion to a fluid traversing the annular passage to cool the solid metal after the preselected time to a degree that will maintain the primary coolant loop of the nuclear reactor system in a stable condition.