A preliminary design of an underwater debris vacuum system

A loss of cooling water accident (LOCA) occurred at an 880 MWe nuclear power plant which resulted in substantial damage to the core of the reactor. At the high temperatures reached during the accident, some of the cladding became brittle and fractured into small pieces. These pieces of cladding along with fuel pellets are thought to have been deposited on the bottom of the core as well as in the lower head vessel region of the reactor. The purpose of this report is to present a preliminary design of an underwater vacuum system that will vaccum and filter the debris from the core and lower head vessel regions.