{"id":15497,"date":"2017-09-19T16:41:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-19T16:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sitepourvtc.com\/?page_id=15497"},"modified":"2022-10-29T11:48:51","modified_gmt":"2022-10-29T11:48:51","slug":"core-barrel","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sitepourvtc.com\/nuclear-power-plant\/nuclear-reactor\/core-barrel\/","title":{"rendered":"Core Barrel"},"content":{"rendered":"
The core barrel<\/strong> belongs to the lower core support structure because it houses a reactor core<\/a>. Other lower core support structures (lower core plate, core baffle<\/a>, or heavy reflector<\/a>) are attached to the core barrel, which transmits the weight of the core to the reactor vessel<\/a>. The barrel is a long, cylindrical, one-piece welded structure. Like most components of the internals, the core barrel is made of low carbon, chromium-nickel stainless steel<\/strong>\u00a0because it is situated in a corrosive environment (primary coolant comprises boric acid<\/a>), and the material should not get oxidized.<\/div><\/div>\n
\"core<\/a>
The core barrel inside a reactor pressure vessel of LWR. It is only an illustrative example.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The core barrel rests on a ledge machined into the pressure vessel flange and is centered at its upper flange with alignment pins. The lower core plate is welded to the bottom of the core barrel. The lower core plate consists of N holes for fixing fuel assemblies<\/strong><\/a> (N is a number of fuel assemblies in a specific reactor \u2013 e.g.,, 157).<\/p>\n

The lower internals and the core barrel remain in place during refueling but may be removed for reactor pressure vessel in-service inspections.<\/p>\n

The flow path for the reactor coolant through the reactor vessel would be:<\/p>\n