Abstract 1. A method of supporting the moderator structure in the reactor vessel of a gas-cooled graphite-moderated nuclear reactor having vertical adjacent columns composed of blocks, the columns resting on a sectional mounted plate the sections of which are supported by at least one support tube on the bottom of the reactor vessel, according to which the support tubes pass through the bottom of the reactor vessel and are provided at the outer end with at least one plug which acts as a radiation shield and a cooling-gas seal, in which the support tube (8) is fixed in a sleeve tube (3) by means of a locking plate (5,6) such that between the support tube (8) and the sleeve tube (3) there is an annular gap (11) containing an auxiliary tube (12) which is movable in the axial direction of the support tube (8) and which while the reactor is in operation is supported on the locking plate (5,6), and while the reactor is shut down is supported on the sleeve tube (3) by means of a pawl device (14), the length of travel of the auxiliary tube (12) being such that when the pawl device is in operation the support tube (8) is at least partly relieved of the weight of the moderator column.
A method of supporting the moderator structure in the reactor vessel of a gas-cooled graphite-moderated nuclear reactor having vertical adjacent columns composed of blocks, the columns resting on a sectional mounted plate the sections of which are supported by at least one support tube on the bottom of the reactor vessel, according to which the support tubes pass through the bottom of the reactor vessel and are provided at the outer end with at least one plug which acts as a radiation shield and a cooling-gas seal, in which the support tube (8) is fixed in a sleeve tube (3) by means of a locking plate (5,6) such that between the support tube (8) and the sleeve tube (3) there is an annular gap (11) containing an auxiliary tube (12) which is movable in the axial direction of the support tube (8) and which while the reactor is in operation is supported on the locking plate (5,6), and while the reactor is shut down is supported on the sleeve tube (3) by means of a pawl device (14), the length of travel of the auxiliary tube (12) being such that when the pawl device is in operation the support tube (8) is at least partly relieved of the weight of the moderator column.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
213 words
A method of supporting the moderator structure in the reactor vessel of a gas-cooled graphite-moderated nuclear reactor having vertical adjacent columns composed of blocks, the columns resting on a sectional mounted plate the sections of which are supported by at least one support tube on the bottom of the reactor vessel, according to which the support tubes pass through the bottom of the reactor vessel and are provided at the outer end with at least one plug which acts as a radiation shield and a cooling-gas seal, in which the support tube (8) is fixed in a sleeve tube (3) by means of a locking plate (5,6) such that between the support tube (8) and the sleeve tube (3) there is an annular gap (11) containing an auxiliary tube (12) which is movable in the axial direction of the support tube (8) and which while the reactor is in operation is supported on the locking plate (5,6), and while the reactor is shut down is supported on the sleeve tube (3) by means of a pawl device (14), the length of travel of the auxiliary tube (12) being such that when the pawl device is in operation the support tube (8) is at least partly relieved of the weight of the moderator column.