Claimed embodiments of the integral nuclear reactor relate to nuclear technology and can be used in reactors with different types of heat transfer fluids with a high boiling point, such as, for example, liquid metals, molten salts, etc. Design features of the invention embodiments claimed which have a coil heat exchanger sectioned along the secondary heat carrier circuit provides for an improvement in technical and economic features due to a decrease in metal consumption of the reactor; efficient use of the internal volume of the reactor; improved safety in case of the heat exchanger tube leaks; enabling the removal of residual heat during the time after removal of the protective plug before fuel discharge operations.

The present invention provides an integrated passive reactor system comprising a pressure vessel, a containment vessel arranged outside the pressure vessel and a reactor core arranged inside the pressure vessel, wherein the primary loop operates in full natural circulation. The integrated reactor system is also provided with a secondary side passive residual heat removal system comprising primary loop heat exchanger(s) arranged inside the pressure vessel and passive residual heat removal heat exchanger(s) arranged outside the containment vessel, wherein the primary loop heat exchanger(s) is/are arranged above the reactor core, the passive residual heat removal heat exchanger(s) is/are arranged inside water tank(s) which is/are fixed outside the containment vessel, and the primary heat exchanger(s) and the passive residual heat removal heat exchanger(s) are connected by heat exchanger inlet pipelines and heat exchanger outlet pipelines. By adopting passive safety technology and passive residual heat removal system, and with the help of top double-layer structure of pressure vessel and break isolation measures, the integrated reactor system according to the present invention can reduce the loss of coolant to the greatest extent, thus meeting the requirements for mitigating design basis accidents, ensuring reactor safety and simplifying the design of the system.

A nuclear reactor is designed to couple the load path of the control elements with the reactor core, thus reducing the opportunity for differential movement between the control elements and the reactor core. A cartridge core barrel can be fabricated in a manufacturing facility to include the reactor core, control element supports, and control element drive system. The cartridge core barrel can be mounted to a reactor vessel head, and any movement, such as through seismic forces, transmits an equal direction and magnitude to the control elements and the reactor core, thus inhibiting the opportunity for differential movement.

The present disclosure relates to reducing losses in the effective delayed neutron fraction during the operation of a reactor, making it possible to provide for a high efficiency of burning out of minor actinides, and also that of increasing the leak-tight integrity of the primary circuit and the reliability of the reactor. The above-mentioned technical result is achieved in an integral molten salt fast reactor with a circulating fuel composition, comprising a vessel with inlet and outlet secondary circuit pipelines and a connection pipe for initial filling and replenishment with molten salt coolant, heat exchangers of the primary/secondary circuit, a side reflector, an upper reflector and a lower reflector, a core with a shell, and a main circulation pipe, wherein the side reflector is made of sections between which the heat exchangers of the primary/secondary circuit are arranged such that they lie flush against the shell of the core.

Fuel, heat exchangers, and instrumentation for nuclear reactors are disclosed. A nuclear power system includes a plurality of nuclear fuel elements, each of the nuclear fuel elements including an annulus; and a plurality of heat pipes, each of the plurality of heat pipes configured to pass through the annulus of a respective one of the nuclear fuel elements in conductive thermal contact with the respective nuclear fuel element. A nuclear instrumentation module includes an assembly of optical fibers, each optical fiber comprising one or more sensors and configured for removable installation at one of the plurality of heat pipes. A heat exchanger includes a heat pipe including an evaporating region and a condensing region; and a tube bundle configured to wrap around the condensing region of the heat pipe and including one or more adjacent, parallel tubes, each tube forming a helix that is coaxial to the heat pipe.

A system for transferring heat from a nuclear reactor comprises a nuclear reactor comprising a nuclear fuel and a reactor vessel surrounding the nuclear reactor and a heat transfer system surrounding the nuclear reactor. The heat transfer system comprises an inner wall surrounding the nuclear reactor vessel, first fins coupled to an outer surface of inner wall, an outer wall between the inner wall and a surrounding environment, and second fins coupled to an inner surface of the outer wall and extending in a volume between the outer surface of the inner wall and the inner surface of the outer wall, the outer surface of the inner wall and the first fins configured to transfer heat from the nuclear reactor core to the second fins and the inner surface of the outer wall by thermal radiation. The heat transfer system may be directly coupled to the nuclear reactor vessel, or may be coupled to an external reflector surrounding the nuclear reactor vessel. Related heat transfer systems and systems for selectively removing heat from a nuclear reactor are disclosed.

A container for transporting a reactor is disclosed. The container includes a loop thermosiphon including a chamber, a heat exchanger fluidically coupled to the chamber, and an actuator including an unactuated state and an actuated state. The actuator is configured to automatically transition to the actuated state. The transition is based on an event occurring within the reactor. A working medium is configured to remove heat from the reactor in the actuated state.

Configurations of molten fuel salt reactors are described that include an auxiliary cooling system which shared part of the primary coolant loop but allows for passive cooling of decay heat from the reactor. Furthermore, different pump configurations for circulating molten fuel through the reactor core and one or more in vessel heat exchangers are described.

Configurations of molten fuel salt reactors are described that utilize neutron-reflecting coolants or a combination of primary salt coolants and secondary neutron-reflecting coolants. Further configurations are described that circulate liquid neutron-reflecting material around an reactor core to control the neutronics of the reactor. Furthermore, configurations which use the circulating neutron-reflecting material to actively cool the containment vessel are also described.

A curvilinear electromagnetic pump is configured to follow a curve, such as by coupling multiple linear pump segments together that are offset by an angle with respect to each other. The curvilinear electromagnetic pump can curve within two dimensions, or within three dimensions. The curvilinear electromagnetic pump allows for more efficient arrangement of components and systems within a nuclear reactor vessel and allows a significantly reduced reactor vessel height as compared to a linear pump arranged vertically. The curvilinear electromagnetic pump may follow the curvature of the reactor vessel wall and may be entirely disposed near the bottom of the reactor vessel.