Hydraulic control rod drive system

Abstract

Abstract A SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING A NUCLEAR REACTOR UTILIZING PRESSUREIZED COOLANT FOR RAISING CONTROL RODS OUT OF THE REACTOR CORE. THE SYSTEM POSITIONS INDIVIDUAL CONTROL RODS OR GROUPS THEREOF IN EITHER AN ALL-IN OR AN ALL-OUT POSITION, AND INCORPORATES MEANS FOR ASSURING FAIL-SAFE OPERATION AND FOR POSITION INDICATION OF THE RODS. THE SIMPLICITY OF THE SYSTEM MAKES IT FEASIBLE TO PROVIDE A SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF WEAK CONTROL RODS TO PERMIT ALL-IN OR ALL-OUT OPERATION WITHOUT EXCESSIVE INCREMENTS OF REACTIVITY. THE INDIVIDUAL CONTROL RODS IN LARGE THERMAL REACTORS, FOR EXAMPLE MAY BE OPERATED IN GROUPS WIDELY DISPERSED THROUGHOUT THE CORE, SUFFICIENTLY SPACED THAT THE RODS HAVE LITTLE OR NO INTERACTION; WHILE A FAST REACTOR IS MUCH MORE CLOSELY-COUPLED. WHILE THIS SYSTEM IS PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO SODIUM-COOLED FAST REACTORS, IT CAN BE ADAPTED TO OTHER TYPES OF REACTORS.

Inventors

• 👤 John H Germer

Bibliographic Details