The Reactor Containment of Standard-Design German Pressurized Water Reactors

A survey of the engineered design of the containment of a standard German pressurized water reactor of the 1300-MW(electric) category is presented. One essential part of the containment consists of a 4-cm-thick and 56-m-diam detached steel shell, surrounded by a 2-m-thick concrete shielding. Between the concrete shell and the containment, an annulus has been provided that can be vented via filters under accident conditions. In numerous experiments, the extraordinarily conservative approach in the layout of the structure has been proved to withstand the loss-of-coolant design-basis accident. This conservative approach in design also has positive effects in restricting the consequences of a core meltdown accident.