System for supporting structures subject to vibrations

摘要

1,033,046. Reactors. COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE. Aug. 21, 1964 [Aug. 30, 1963; Sept. 30, 1963], No. 34317/64. Heading G6C. A nuclear reactor and its associated access plug for control rods &c. are supported from a common base to reduce relative movement in the event of earthquake shocks and the like; a base rests on a foundation and a support suspended from the base carries the reactor vessel, the base also including a bearing surface for supporting the access plug. A fast fission reactor 1 having a core la is mounted on a base plate 13 supported by a shell 8 of frusto-conical, pyramidical or part spherical form. The shell is suspended by tie rods 6 from the base 4 resting on a vibration-absorbing layer 20, e.g. of rubber, through the intermediary of tie rod heads 7. The access and control rod carrying plug 2 is supported by jacks 19 on the base 4, via uprights 17 and ring 18. Electric motors 16 driving pinions 15 rotatably engage the tie heads, which include screw and nut arrangements. Thus, a central control can be provided for energizing the motors to vary the effective tie rod lengths to maintain the horizontality of the base plate 13. The tie rods may be hollow metal rods having graphite cores, and they may be self-compensating for thermal expansion. In a modification (Fig. 2, not shown), the shell 8 is inverted, the reactor being mounted on the small upper end, while the tie rods extend to the lowest plane of the shell. A thermally self-compensating tie rod is used, and the part of the tie rod not coextensive with the shell is thermally insulated from its zone.