The core catcher body has been installed for the Tianwan-7 nuclear power plant under construction in Jiangsu province, east China, Russian state-nuclear corporation Rosatom said
The core catcher – also known as a core melt localisation device or core trap – is designed to catch the molten core material, or corium, from a nuclear reactor in the event of a nuclear meltdown and to prevent it from escaping the containment. It is part of the passive safety system.
The core catcher – also known as a core melt localisation device or core trap – is designed to catch the molten core material, or corium, from a nuclear reactor in the event of a nuclear meltdown and to prevent it from escaping the containment. It is part of the passive safety system.
Installation of the core catcher will allow further works on the reactor building pit.
The Tianwan nuclear power station has five nuclear units in commercial operation and three under construction.
Tianwan-7 and -8 will both be Russia-made VVER-1200 Generation III+ PWR units under agreements signed in 2018 and 2019. Russia already supplied its VVER-1000 technology for the commercial Tianwan-1, -2, -3, and -4.
Construction of Tianwan-7 began in May 2021, according to earlier reports.
