Nuclear reactor has at least one structure incorporating phase change material to absorb residual heat created during accidental core melt-through

摘要

A nuclear reactor has at least one of its structures, such as its core vessel wall (10a), thermal insulation layer (18), confinement chamber or corium recuperator in or beneath the vessel, incorporating at least one solid/solid and/or solid/liquid phase change material (26) able to absorb residual heat from the corium resulting from an accidental melt-through of the reactor core. The phase change temperatures of the material are situated between the nominal temperatures of the structures during the reactor's operation and the temperature limits of the structures' materials, i.e. 70-2000 degrees C. The phase change materials can be simple or mixed oxides such as Al2O3, salts such as ZnS, or organic materials like pentaerythritol.