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Concept
Reactor pressure vessel
Summary
A reactor pressure vessel (RPV) in a nuclear power plant is the pressure vessel containing the nuclear reactor coolant, core shroud, and the reactor core.
Russian Soviet era RBMK reactors have each fuel assembly enclosed in an individual 8 cm diameter pipe rather than having a pressure vessel. Whilst most power reactors do have a pressure vessel, they are generally classified by the type of coolant rather than by the configuration of the vessel used to contain the coolant. The classifications are:
Light-water reactor - Includes the pressurized water reactor and the boiling water reactor. Most nuclear power reactors are of this type.
Graphite-moderated reactor - Includes the Chernobyl reactor (RBMK), which has a highly unusual reactor configuration compared to the vast majority of nuclear power plants in Russia and around the world.
Gas cooled thermal reactor - Includes the Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor, the gas cooled fast breeder reactor, and the high temperature gas cooled reactor. An example of a gas cooled reactor is the British Magnox.
Pressurized heavy-water reactor - utilizes heavy water, or water with a higher than normal proportion of the hydrogen isotope deuterium, in some manner. However, D2O (heavy water) is more expensive and may be used as a main component, but not necessarily as a coolant in this case. An example of a heavy water reactor is Canada's CANDU reactor.
Liquid metal cooled reactor - utilizes a liquid metal, such as sodium or a lead-bismuth alloy to cool the reactor core.
Molten salt reactor - salts, typically fluorides of the alkali metals and of the alkali earth metals, are used as the coolant. Operation is similar to metal-cooled reactors with high temperatures and low pressures, reducing pressure exerted on the reactor vessel versus water or steam-cooled designs.
Of the main classes of reactor with a pressure vessel, the pressurized water reactor is unique in that the pressure vessel suffers significant neutron irradiation (called fluence) during operation, and may become brittle over time as a result.
Official source
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