Nuclear reactor, side reactor blocks exchange - by two manipulators replacing absorber rods and sheet piling retaining fuel element pile

摘要

The blocks of the side reflector in the cavity of a gas-cooled, high temp. reactor contg. a pile of spherical fuel elements are exchanged by replacing the absorber rods in the iron-clad tubes near the border by a manipulator. This is used to extract some of the ceiling reflector and any other metallic obstructions. A second manipulator is used to push the overlapping sections of a sheet piling between side reflector and fuel element pile. The first manipulator then extracts the side reflector blocks one-by-one. Parts of the side reflector can thus be exchanged without having to remove the fuel elements from the core or any major components such as heat exchangers. The down -times of a high-temp. reactor are considerably reduced.