Core catcher

A core catcher is a device provided to catch the molten core material (corium) of a nuclear reactor in case of a nuclear meltdown and prevent it from escaping the containment building.

[1][2] The core catcher of the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) has 170 m2 expansion area and a mass of 500 t.[3] Examples of reactor types with core catchers, besides the EPR, are:

The AES-91, a project of Atomstroyexport based on the VVER-1000 design, was envisaged to be the first type of nuclear plant to have a core catcher directly underneath the reactor.

The Russian physicist who helped design the Russian core-catcher model during the Chernobyl crisis, Leonid Bolshov, has stressed that the experience of Chernobyl has encouraged Russia to create reactors with core-catcher safety devices in new nuclear plants.

[9] In 2018, Rosatom installed a 200-tonne core catcher at Bangladesh's Rooppur 1 Nuclear Power Plant (planned to go into operation in 2023), describing it as "a unique protection system".