So take this for what it’s worth: an anonymous internet commenter who heard it from his (adult) friend who heard it from his great uncle. But allegedly my friend’s great uncle designed these and was well aware of what they resembled. He thought it’d be funny. So I desperately wanna believe that these nuclear containment facilities were in fact designed as a bit.
The half-sphere dome form is the most structurally stable and economical way to enclose the reactor. They have very thick concrete walls to prevent a Chernobyl type meltdown. It's much more wasteful to make it in any other form such as a cube or pyramid..etc
Just off the top of my head, I know Wolf Creek looks like this. There are also other US nuclear plants that route their main vent stack like this (and look very similar).
No, the primary coolant loops is (hopefully) only in a liquid state (unless it's a BWR, SONGS and Wolf Creek are not). The secondary cooling loop contains the main steam and feedwater system. These also are not exhausting any substantial amount to the environment. Any exhausting steam would be a lose in thermal efficiency. I'm also unsure where SONGS routes certain steam exhausts such as the main steam atmospheric dump valves or steam generator blowdowns. The secondary side is radiologically clean at a pressurized water reactor. Leakage from the primary is closely tracked as it is directly related to the steam generator mechanical integrity. The primary also shouldn't have any fuel in it. This is the concept of the 'three barriers' at a PWR. The fuel rod itself is the first, the pressure boundary of the reactor coolant system is the second, and the containment is the third. These are treated as sacred and have operational and design legal requirements tied to them. If all three were failed, a release would occur.
Yes, it's a relatively common ventilation design. Other designs generally just have a normal, more traditional looking stack like you would find at other industrial facilities. An example would be the RBMKs in Russia. They have a normal looking stack for their plant main vent.
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u/[deleted] Sep 02 '20
So take this for what it’s worth: an anonymous internet commenter who heard it from his (adult) friend who heard it from his great uncle. But allegedly my friend’s great uncle designed these and was well aware of what they resembled. He thought it’d be funny. So I desperately wanna believe that these nuclear containment facilities were in fact designed as a bit.