This invention relates to apparatus for supporting a nuclear reactor core.
In a nuclear reactor, for example a fast breeder reactor, liquid sodium of a high temperature of about 500-600.degree. C. fills the inside of the reactor core, in which several hundreds of hexagonal core elements are accommodated. The hexagonal core elements are supported at their lower ends by supporting plates disposed at the lower portion of the reactor core and their upper ends are constituted to move freely. Each of core support frames surrounds a group of core elements and holds them at their upper and intermediate portions so as to suppress deflection or deformation of the core elements due to heat or earthquakes, for example. These core elements are arranged closely to each other with small gaps therebetween in a high temperature fluid in the reactor core, so that the core elements moves complicatedly upon occurrence of an earthquake, for example, and particularly, some of core elements adjacent the core support frame may be often subjected to a relatively large collision force due to collision of the core elements and the support frames. For such a reason as described above, it is desired to design core constituting members so that the core support frames can suppress deformation of the core elements due to heat or earthquake and reduce the reaction force of the support frames and core elements as much as possible. In addition, it is desired to improve an earthquake-proof capability of the core element themselves.
However, the defects described above cannot be obviated by the core support frames of prior art which are firmly secured to the reactor core.