Modular Nuclear Silo Segmentation for Leakage Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional containment structures for nuclear power plants are large, leading to significant water leakage during loss-of-coolant accidents and have long construction times, making them costly and vulnerable to delays.
Innovation Solution
A modular pressure-containing silo system with standardized, factory-manufactured concrete units and stainless steel liners, allowing for efficient on-site assembly and reduced rework, which can be transported and stacked to fit closely around reactor components, minimizing water leakage and construction time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional large containment structure is used, then all pressurised components can be enclosed, but water leakage increases significantly during loss-of-coolant accidents due to low equilibrium pressure
Solution Approach 1:
The containment structure is divided into multiple separate silos, each enclosing individual pressurised components. This segmentation creates isolated containment zones where pressure equilibrium is maintained independently in each silo, preventing the large-scale water leakage that occurs in conventional unified containments during loss-of-coolant accidents.
2Strength
If a conventional containment structure made of steel or post tensioned concrete is used, then structural strength is achieved, but construction lead time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The silo units are pre-manufactured in controlled factory settings with metal liners cast-in as part of the moulding process. This preliminary action allows standardized production on assembly lines, significantly reducing on-site construction time while maintaining structural integrity through precise factory-controlled manufacturing.
Solution Approach 2:
The silo structure combines concrete bodies with integrated metal liners (stainless steel or corrosion-resistant materials). This composite material approach provides both the structural strength of concrete and the corrosion/temperature resistance of metal, achieving required performance while enabling modular pre-fabrication.
3Strength
If conventional site-poured concrete and site-welded plate steel are used, then structural integrity is achieved, but the construction process becomes vulnerable to delays and cost overruns
Solution Approach 1:
The containment system is segmented into modular silo units that can be manufactured independently in factories and then assembled on-site. This eliminates the sequential, weather-dependent nature of conventional site-poured concrete construction, allowing parallel production of multiple units and significantly improving construction productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
All critical manufacturing operations including concrete casting, metal liner integration, and reinforcement placement are performed in advance in controlled factory environments. This preliminary action transfers construction activities from the vulnerable on-site phase to the controlled factory phase, reducing exposure to delays and cost overruns.
4Loss of substance
If a close-fitting silo design is used, then water leakage is reduced during accidents, but the silo diameter must be precisely matched to component size
Solution Approach 1:
The silo design allows adjustment of the gap between the silo inner surface and the contained component. By optimizing this gap parameter, the design achieves close-fitting containment that minimizes water leakage during accidents while maintaining manufacturing feasibility and accommodating standard component dimensions.
Data Source
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Figure 3A~3E
AI summary
A pressure-containing silo for one or more components on a primary coolant circuit of a nuclear reactor is provided. The pressure-containing silo for one or more components on a primary coolant circuit of a nuclear reactor having nuclear fuel assemblies which are cooled by coolant circulating around the primary coolant circuit, the silo defining a release space which, in the event of a loss-of-coolant accident releasing the pressurised coolant water from the one or more components contained therein, receives and contains the released water and steam, at increasing pressure, formed therefrom; wherein the silo is formed from plural, substantially identical, stacked and joined modular units, each modular unit having: a concrete body, a metal liner which lines a surface of the concrete body, and which, when the units are stacked and joined, is sealed edge-to-edge with the metal liners of neighbouring units to form an inward-facing, pressure-containing skin surrounding the release space, and plural conduits which, when the units are stacked, align with the conduits of neighbouring units to receive elongate tensioning members for post-stressing the concrete of the bodies.