Requirements for thermal insulation on prestressed concrete reactor vessels

During the past decade, extensive design, construction, and operating experience on concrete pressure vessels for gas-cooled reactor applications has accumulated. Excellent experience has been obtained to date on the structural components (concrete, prestressing systems, liners, penetrations, and closures) and the thermal insulation. Three fundamentally different types of insulation systems have been employed to ensure the satisfactory performance of this component, which is critical to the overall success of the prestressed concrete reactor vessel (PCRV). Although general design criteria have been published, the requirements for design, materials, and construction are not rigorously addressed in any national or international code. With the more onerous design conditions being imposed by advanced reactor systems, much greater attention has been directed to advance the state of the art of insulation systems for PCRVs. This paper addresses some of the more recent developments in this field being performed by General Atomic Company and others. (author)