Design criteria for the NPR reactor building

Abstract

The 105-N building, which houses the world's largest power reactor, is a highly specialized structure of reinforced concrete and steel. The secondary shielding walls, which surround the reactor and its coolant system, are 4 to $\text{5}\text{built1}\text{2}$ feet thick; the ceilings $\text{1}\text{built1}\text{2}$ to $\text{2}\text{built1}\text{2}$ feet thick. These walls are designed to reduce radiation levels to safe human tolerance during normal reactor operation and to function as a low pressure confiner during an emergency. Interior surfaces are covered with an elastomeric coating consisting of 15 mils of neoprene and 5 mils of (white) hypalon. In addition to normal dead and live loads, the structure is designed to resist: 1) a temperature differential of 40°F, 2) an internal pressure of 5 psig or a vacuum of 2 psig, and 3) seismic loads associated with a ground acceleration of 0.2 gravity. Criteria used in the detail design of the 105-N building are reproduced in this paper.