Molten core retention and solidification apparatus

Claim 1

In a nuclear reactor having a containment shell housing a nuclear reactor vessel with a reactor core in said reactor vessel, a fluid cooled heat exchanger molten core retention and solidification apparatus for confining molten material in the event of a meltdown of said reactor core and said nuclear reactor vessel while removing heat from the molten material to a location external to the containment shell, comprising: a. an open-top confinement shell disposed within the containment shell directly beneath the reactor vessel, the confinement shell defining a cavity for collecting molten material from the reactor vessel in the event of a core meltdown; b. a plurality of vertically extending heat exchange tube assemblies disposed within the confinement shell beneath the reactor vessel, each tube assembly including a neutron absorbing material and comprising a vertically extending outer tube being closed at its upper end and open at its lower end and a vertically extending inner tube disposed substantially concentrically within and spaced from the outer tube so as to define a flow passageway through the interior of the inner tube and the annular space between the outside of the inner tube and the inside of the outer tube, the inner tube being open at both its upper and lower ends; c. a protective material covering the exterior surface of the outer tube of each tube assembly, the protective material conducting heat from the molten material to the underlying outer tube, said protective material having a melting temperature sufficiently above the temperature of the molten material such that the protective material can withstand the temperature of the molten material without melting; d. a plurality of orifices, one in the flow passageway of each tube assembly, to control fluid flow through each flow passageway, wherein the size of said orifice varies depending upon the location of said orifice in the heat exchanger apparatus; e. an inlet plenum disposed beneath the plurality of tube assemblies, the inlet plenum connected in fluid communication with one of the tubes of each tube assembly; f. an outlet plenum disposed beneath the plurality of tube assemblies, the outlet plenum connected in fluid communication with the other of the tubes of each tube assembly; and g. means for circulating a heat exchange fluid into the inlet plenum, thence from the inlet plenum through the flow passageways defined within the tube assemblies into and through the outlet plenum to a location external to the containment shell, the heat exchange fluid flowing through the tube assemblies being passed in heat exchange relationship with any molten material from a core meltdown collecting in the confinement cavity so as to absorb heat therefrom and remove said heat to a location external to the containment shell.