Patent Number: 052873927
Section: claims

1. In a nuclear reactor comprising a core of nuclear fuel elements, a downcomer annulus between a pressure vessel and said core, means for feeding feedwater into said pressure vessel, means for forcing said feedwater to flow through said core to cool said fuel elements, and means for separating steam and water phase in the mixture exiting said core, said water phase flowing from said steam/water separating means to said downcomer annulus, the improvement wherein catalytic means are arranged downstream of said steam/water separating means, said catalytic means comprising catalytic material arranged in an open structure which allows water phase to flow therethrough, said catalytic means being disposed so that substantially all of the water phase exiting said steam/water separating means flows therethrough, and said catalytic material having a surface area-to-volume ratio sufficiently high enough to ensure that substantially all of the water phase passing through said catalytic means flows close enough to a surface of said catalytic material to enable said catalytic material to catalyze the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide molecules dissolved in said water phase exiting said steam/water separating means into water and oxygen molecules. 2. The nuclear reactor as defined in claim 1, wherein said catalytic material comprises a water recombination catalyst which catalyzes both the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide molecules and the recombination into water of hydrogen and oxygen molecules dissolved in said water phase exiting said steam/water separating means. 3. The nuclear reactor as defined in claim 1, wherein said catalytic means comprise a generally annular containment means in which said catalytic material is packed, said containment means having openings which enable water phase to flow through said containment means, but which are not of a size to allow escape of said catalytic material therefrom. 4. The nuclear reactor as defined in claim 3, further comprising a core shroud and a shroud head, wherein said catalytic means is mounted on said shroud head and circumferentially encompasses said steam/water separating means. 5. The nuclear reactor as defined in claim 3, further comprising a core shroud and a shroud head, wherein said catalytic means is mounted on said core shroud and extends across said downcomer annulus. 6. The nuclear reactor as defined in claim 1, wherein said catalytic material comprises entangled wires or strips or crimped ribbons made from metal. 7. The nuclear reactor as defined in claim 6, wherein said metal is stainless steel plated or alloyed with a noble metal. 8. A nuclear reactor comprising a core of nuclear fuel elements, a downcomer annulus between a pressure vessel and said core, means for feeding feedwater into said pressure vessel, means for forcing said feedwater to flow through said core to cool said fuel elements, means for separating steam and water phase in the mixture exiting said core, said water phase flowing from said steam/water separating means to said downcomer annulus, and means for catalyzing the recombination into water of hydrogen and oxygen molecules dissolved in said water phase exiting the steam/water separating means, wherein said means for catalyzing water recombination are arranged downstream of said steam/water separating means and comprise catalytic material arranged in an open structure which allows water phase to flow therethrough, said means for catalyzing water recombination being disposed so that substantially all of the water phase exiting the steam/water separating means flows therethrough. 9. The nuclear reactor as defined in claim 8, wherein said means for catalyzing water recombination comprise containment means in which said catalytic material is packed, said containment means having openings which enable water phase to flow through said containment means, but which are not of a size to allow escape of said catalytic material therefrom. 10. The nuclear reactor as defined in claim 8, wherein said means for catalyzing water recombination has a generally annular structure. 11. The nuclear reactor as defined in claim 10, further comprising a core shroud and a shroud head, wherein said means for catalyzing water recombination is mounted on said shroud head and circumferentially encompasses said steam/water separating means. 12. The nuclear reactor as defined in claim 10, further comprising a core shroud and a shroud head, wherein said means for catalyzing water recombination is mounted on said shroud and extends across said downcomer annulus. 13. The nuclear reactor as defined in claim 9, wherein said catalytic material comprises entangled or crimped stainless steel plated or alloyed with a noble metal.