Reactor is an engineering devices in which nuclear fuel and structural materials are arranged such that a self-sustained fission chain reaction can occur in a controlled manner.
multiple barriers in typical plant
Fuel container within the reactor, generally thousands of sealed metal tubes, rods, or plates, fabricated to the highest quality standards.
Closed loop of water which transport the fission energy away from the reactor. Water is converted to steam by fission. The steam passes through a turbine-generator, is condensed and the water eventually returned to the reactor to be reheated. Note that while this loop serves to generate steam, it also serves to cool the reactor, keeping it in thermal equilibrium. Should one or more fuel elements fail, mechanically or due to overheating, the fission fragments would be contained in the closed cooling water loop.
Most reactors (except the Chernobyl type) have a third barrier, called a containment building. It is a large steel lined, concrete structure completely enclosing the reactor and it’s cooling loops. It is designed to completely contain all of the coolant should a major failure leak occur in the cooling loops, and all of the water flashed to steam. So even if fission fragments were released into the cooling loop and the loop leaked, fission fragments would be held in the containment building.
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