Nuclear power plant and passive containment cooling system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9697914-B2
Application number	US-201313921488-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 19, 2013
Priority date	Jun 29, 2012
Publication date	Jul 4, 2017
Grant date	Jul 4, 2017

Abstract

According to an embodiment, a nuclear power plant has a core; a reactor pressure vessel; a dry well; a wet well; a vacuum breaker; a containment vessel including the dry well, the LOCA vent pipe, the wet well, and the vacuum breaker; a cooling water pool placed outside the containment vessel; a heat exchanger at least partially submerged in cooling water; a gas supply pipe connected to the inlet plenum of the heat exchanger and the dry well; a condensate return pipe connected to the outlet plenum of the heat exchanger and the containment vessel; and a gas vent pipe connected to the outlet plenum of the heat exchanger and an outside of the wet well so that non-condensable gas inside the heat exchanger is released out of the wet well. The gas vent pipe is not connected to the wet well.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A nuclear power plant, comprising:
a core;
a reactor pressure vessel that houses the core;
a dry well that houses the reactor pressure vessel;
a wet well whose lower portion houses a suppression pool that is connected to the dry well via a LOCA vent pipe, and whose upper portion includes a wet well gas phase;
a vacuum breaker that allows gas inside the wet well gas phase to flow back into the dry well;
a containment vessel that includes the dry well, the LOCA vent pipe, the wet well, and the vacuum breaker;
a cooling water pool that is placed outside the containment vessel and stores cooling water;
a heat exchanger that includes an inlet plenum, an outlet plenum, and a plurality of heat exchanger tubes connecting the inlet plenum and the outlet plenum and being at least partially submerged in the cooling water;
a gas supply pipe whose one end is connected to the inlet plenum of the heat exchanger, and whose other end is connected to the dry well so that gas in the dry well is led to the heat exchanger;
a condensate return pipe whose one end is connected to the outlet plenum of the heat exchanger, and whose other end is connected to the containment vessel so that condensate inside the heat exchanger is led to the containment vessel;
an outer well that is provided outside the dry well and the wet well;
a water seal pool that is provided inside the outer well and in which water is stored; and
a gas vent pipe whose one end is connected to the outlet plenum of the heat exchanger, and whose other end is placed so that non-condensable gas inside the heat exchanger is released into the outer well outside the wet well, wherein
the gas vent pipe is not connected to the wet well.

2. The nuclear power plant according to claim 1 , further comprising
an atmospheric control system outlet pipe that is connected to the dry well to exhaust inert gas inside the dry well, and a first isolation valve that is provided on the atmospheric control system outlet pipe, wherein
one end of the gas supply pipe is connected to a pipe between a dry well penetration of the atmospheric control system outlet pipe and the first isolation valve.

3. The nuclear power plant according to claim 1 , further comprising
a containment spray system pipe that is connected to the dry well, and a first isolation valve that is provided on the containment spray system pipe, wherein
the condensate return pipe is connected to the containment spray system pipe between the dry well and the first isolation valve.

4. A passive containment cooling system for a nuclear power plant having a containment vessel, a dry well and a wet well whose lower portion houses a suppression pool that is connected to the dry well via a LOCA vent pipe, and whose upper portion includes a wet well gas phase, the system comprising:
a cooling water pool that is placed outside the containment vessel and stores cooling water;
a heat exchanger that includes an inlet plenum, an outlet plenum, and a plurality of heat exchanger tubes connecting the inlet plenum and the outlet plenum and being at least partially submerged in the cooling water;
a gas supply pipe whose one end is connected to the inlet plenum of the heat exchanger, and whose other end is connected to the dry well so that gas in the dry well is led to the heat exchanger;
a condensate return pipe whose one end is connected to the outlet plenum of the heat exchanger, and whose other end is connected to the containment vessel so that condensate inside the heat exchanger is led to the containment vessel;
an outer well that is provided outside the dry well and the wet well;
a water seal pool that is provided inside the outer well and in which water is stored; and
a gas vent pipe whose one end is connected to the outlet plenum of the heat exchanger, and whose other end is placed so as to be submerged in the water seal pool, so that the non-condensable gas inside the heat exchanger is released into the outer well outside the wet well, wherein
the gas vent pipe is not connected to the wet well.

Assignees

• Toshiba Kk

Inventors

• Sato Takashi
• Matsumoto Keiji

Classifications

• G21C15/18

  Emergency cooling arrangements; Removing shut-down heat · CPC title

• G21C9/004 Primary

  Pressure suppression · CPC title

• Y02E30/40

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y02E30/30

  Nuclear fission reactors · CPC title