ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the design and function of reactor containment buildings in general, and explains some reactor-specific containment buildings. It focuses on the design of pressurized water reactor (PWR) and boiling water reactor containment buildings. The purpose of a containment building is to prevent the release of radioactive material to the environment in the event that a reactor accident occurs. In a PWR, the containment building houses the reactor pressure vessel and it also houses the steam generators, the reactor coolant pumps, and the pressurizer. Most modern containment buildings are surrounded by a steel structure that is called the missile defense shield. Containment buildings surrounding reactor cores usually come in two or three well-defined sizes and shapes. Early designs for these buildings resembled a cylindrical object or “can” made out of reinforced concrete. This shape was quite popular when many PWRs were first being built during the 1960s and 1970s.
