Patent ID: 7308070

Claim:
A decay heat removal system for a liquid metal reactor comprising: a reactor vessel containing a reactor core therein and including a hot pool for containing a high-temperature fluid discharged from the reactor core and a cold pool which is separated from the hot pool by a partition and contains a low-temperature fluid; an intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) for transferring heat from the hot pool to an external steam generation system and positioned in the hot pool, the IHX having an upper portion communicating via a guide pipe with the hot pool and a bottom portion communicating with the cold pool for discharging the fluid from the hot pool into the cold pool after extracting heat from said fluid; a cylinder surrounding the IHX and defining an annular space around the IHX, the cylinder positioned in the hot pool and having an open top portion extending above a level of the fluid in the hot pool, and a bottom portion communicating with the cold pool; the guide pipe extending through said annular space of the cylinder and communicating at a first end with the hot pool and communicating at a second end with the upper portion of the IHX for allowing passage of the fluid from the hot pool into the IHX; a decay heat exchanger (DHX) equipped with heat transfer tubes, positioned inside the annular space of the cylinder surrounding said IHX, spaced from the IHX and from the cylinder by a designated distance, and thermally connected to external air; and a pump arranged in the cold pool for pumping the fluid from the cold pool through the IHX to the reactor core and to the hot pool and evacuating the annular space of the cylinder through the bottom portion of the cylinder to lower a level of fluid in the cylinder under the level of the fluid in the hot pool and under the DHX by virtue of a pressure differential between the hot pool and the cold pool caused by normal operation of the pump, wherein, upon pump failure, the level of fluid in the cylinder rises to contact the DHX, thereby allowing conduction heat transfer from the IHX to the DHX and thus transferring reactor core decay heat to external air by the DHX.