Patent ID: 8077824

Claim:
A support arrangement comprising: a vessel in the form of a core barrel of a high temperature gas cooled reactor which is housed within a reactor pressure vessel, the core barrel including a circular cylindrical side wall having an axis which extends vertically, the core barrel further including a top and a bottom; a single vertical support for supporting the weight of the core barrel, the vertical support including separate upper and lower support members which are connected respectively to the bottom of the core barrel and the reactor pressure vessel between which vertical loads are transmitted, the upper and lower support members being centrally positioned about the axis and displaceable relative to one another under normal operation of the reactor, the upper and lower support members defining respectively downwardly and upwardly disposed contact surfaces through which the vertical loads are transmitted; and lateral support means configured to provide lateral support to the core barrel, the lateral support means including a plurality of circumferentially spaced upper lateral supports configured to provide lateral support to the core barrel at or towards the top of the core barrel, each of which includes a set of inner and outer upper lateral support members connected to the core barrel at or towards the top of the core barrel and the reactor pressure vessel, respectively, and a roller element having a circular cylindrical body and being sandwiched between oppositely disposed bearing surfaces of the inner and outer lateral support members, wherein the bearing surfaces of the inner and outer upper lateral support members face radially outwardly and inwardly, respectively, relative to the axis and are each inclined both upwardly and outwardly relative to the axis of the core barrel thereby permitting the inner lateral support members to be displaced upwardly and radially outwardly relative to the outer upper lateral support members while maintaining the bearing surfaces in contact with the roller element to compensate for thermal expansion of the core barrel.