Patent Number: 050892185
Section: abstract

A water cooled nuclear reactor comprises a reactor core, a primary water coolant circuit and a pressuriser arranged as an integral unit in a pressure vessel. The pressure vessel is divided into an upper chamber and a lower chamber by a casing, the reactor core and primary coolant circuit are arranged in the lower chamber and the pressuriser is arranged in the upper chamber. A movable diaphragm is positioned in the upper chamber, and is sealingly secured to the casing by a bellows arrangement to divide the upper chamber into a water filled space and a gas filled space. A plurality of surge ports interconnect the water space with the primary coolant circuit. The diaphragm moves to accommodate changes in the volume or pressure of the water in the primary coolant circuit and water space. The diaphragm is loaded by springs and dampers to prevent oscillation of the diaphragm. Alternatively the diaphragm may be an elastic membrane.