Nuclear reactor with molten salt combustible - has vacuum chamber for safe extraction of gaseous fission prods.

摘要

Gaseous fission prods. are extracted from the combustible of a molten combustible salt nuclear reactor. In such a reactor, the combustible, generally Pu fluoride or U fluoride or a mixt. of fluorides of U or Th, dissolved in fluorides of Li-7 and of Be, is used also as heat transfer fluid in a prim. circuit. The circuit includes the reactor core, a pump and an exchanger in which heat is transferred to another molten salt, which exchanges its heat in turn, in a steam generator. Fission reactions produce radioactive gases, e.g. tritium and Xe 135, which must be removed. According to the invention, a reduced press. is established in the upper prt of a chamber fitted in the primary circuit so as to be partly filled with the combustible salt. The reduced press. causes degassing of the combustible. The process is more effective than existing processes, in which the gases are usually extracted by contacting the combustible with helium in the body of the pump, and the helium is purged. In those processes, the extn. is therefore carried out at a point in the prim. circuit where the salt is at the max. press, and the solubility of the gas is greater.