core catcher

{{Short description|Device used to capture fuel debris in a nuclear meltdown}}

File:Schemata_core_catcher_EPR.jpg. ]]

A core catcher is a device provided to catch the molten core material (corium) of a nuclear reactor in case of a nuclear meltdown and prevent it from escaping the containment building.

A core catcher is made from a special thermally resistant concrete ceramic to prevent nuclear core material from melting through the core catcher; it also has a cooling mechanism to cool down the core material.[http://www.siempelkamp.de/Core-Catcher-Cooling-Structures.797.0.html Siempelkamp: Core Catcher - Cooling Structures][http://www.iaea.org/inisnkm/nkm/aws/fnss/knk2/fulltext/33021482.pdf IAEA-Dokument: Status of Fast Breeder Reactor Development in Germany] The core catcher of the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) has 170 m² expansion area and a mass of 500 t.{{cite web |url=http://www.siempelkamp.com/fileadmin/media/nuk/corecatcher.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2011-03-19 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321142815/http://www.siempelkamp.com/fileadmin/media/nuk/corecatcher.pdf |archivedate=2012-03-21 }} (Brochure in German, describing the concept of the core catcher for the EPR in Finland)

Examples of reactor types with core catchers, besides the EPR, are:

• SNR-300 (fast breeder)Areva Brochure: EPR - reference number:G-61-V1-07-GER
• AES-91 / VVER-1000/428[http://www.atomstroyexport.ru/eng/news_arc.htm AtomStroyExport News] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004145101/http://www.atomstroyexport.ru/eng/news_arc.htm |date=2011-10-04 }}
• VVER-1200(PWR)
• SWR1000{{Broken anchor|date=2024-11-23|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Areva#Kerena|reason= The anchor (Kerena) has been deleted.}} (BWR)
• ESBWR (BWR)
• ABWR (BWR)
• APWR (PWR)
• Atmea I (PWR)
• ACPR-1000 (PWR)
• EU-APR1400 (PWR)
• IPWR-900{{cite news |last1=Mohanty |first1=Ajit Kumar |title=Republic Day address of Director, BARC |url=http://www.barc.gov.in/presentations/20200126.pdf |access-date=11 April 2021 |publisher=Bhabha Atomic Research Centre |date=26 January 2020}}{{cite book|page=Chapter 1, Page 49|url=https://dae.gov.in/writereaddata/DAR2018-2019.pdf|access-date=11 April 2021|title=Annual Report 2018-19, Department of Atomic Energy|publisher=Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India|archive-date=7 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407010307/https://dae.gov.in/writereaddata/DAR2018-2019.pdf|url-status=dead}}

The AES-91, a project of Atomstroyexport based on the VVER-1000 design, was envisaged to be the first type of nuclear plant to have a core catcher directly underneath the reactor.{{Cite web |url=http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf45.html |title=WNA - Nuclear Power in Russia |access-date=2011-03-19 |archive-date=2011-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110819062237/http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf45.html |url-status=dead }} Thus, in early 2011, the two reactors of the Chinese Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant were the only working nuclear reactors with this type of core catchers.

The Russian physicist who helped design the Russian core-catcher model during the Chernobyl crisis, Leonid Bolshov, has stressed that the experience of Chernobyl has encouraged Russia to create reactors with core-catcher safety devices in new nuclear plants.[http://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/russia-nuclear-technology-reactors-chernobyl-energy-atomexpo/] (Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting and Scientific American)

In 2018, Rosatom installed a 200-tonne core catcher at Bangladesh's Rooppur 1 Nuclear Power Plant (planned to go into operation in 2023), describing it as "a unique protection system".{{Cite web|url=http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Core-catcher-installation-under-way-at-Rooppur-1|title=Core catcher installation under way at Rooppur 1 - World Nuclear News|website=www.world-nuclear-news.org|access-date=2019-06-05}}