Patent Number: 054597684
Section: abstract

A safety device against overpressure failure of a nuclear reactor pressure vessel in case of inadequate core cooling, includes a pressure relief system responding as a function of temperature. A differential-pressure-loaded pressure relief valve set in a wall or an immediately adjacent pipeline of the pressure vessel which is exposed to primary pressure, has a closure piece that is preferably a differential-pressure piston being mounted so as to be longitudinally displaceable and being sealingly retained in a closure position thereof by a fusible stop. When an upper threshold temperature is reached in the interior of the reactor, which causes the fusible stop to melt due to a threshold temperature heat flow reaching the stop, the differential-pressure piston is moved into an opened position thereof. With correspondingly lower cross-sectional dimensions of the pressure relief valve and lines connected thereto, the pressure relief line may alternatively be constructed as a control line for a separate relief valve.