Fuel element storage pool having two cooling systems - one with natural and the other with forced circulation

摘要

A storage pool for nuclear reactor fuel elements comprises hollow heat exchangers (10) immersed in the water (7) and connected by a natural circulation system (22) to an air cooler (20). This (already known) system is amplified by a cooling pipe (12), housed inside the hollow heat exchanger (10) and connected to a forced circulation cooling circuit (29) with its own cooling device (27,28), which is preferably a wet cooling tower. A double sepn. is obtd. between radioactive water and ambient atmos. The dividing wall of the hollow heat exchanger (10) forms a first barrier, while the cooling pipe inside this heat exchanger constitutes the second barrier. One of the cooling systems, typically the natural draught cooling system, may be for emergency cooling while the other, typically the forced circulation system, constitutes the normal operating cooling system.