Preliminary design of a containment to withstand core melt for a 1300 MWe LWR system

Abstract This paper identifies several of the possible accident sequences including postulated reactor core melt of such low probability that typical light water reactor nuclear power stations are not specifically designed to mitigate their affects. It then identifies a conceptual design and presents a preliminary cost study for a passive containment system designed to mitigate the consequences of such low probability accident sequences. The conceptual containment design thus developed appears to offer an economic alternative to underground siting or more elaborate and redundant emergency core cooling systems.