Westinghouse Electric Corporation

Westinghouse Electric Company LLC

Alan Savinell

John D Wood

George F Dailey

Stephen J Ferlan

Donald G Sherwood

Ralph W Tolino

Charles H Roth, Jr

Jeffrey E Hydeman

Frederick J Ellingson

Larry C Montgomery

Frank W Cooper Jr

A tie rod for reinforcing a nuclear fuel assembly. The tie rod includes an outer, hollow tubular member that extends from above the top nozzle through the bottom nozzle of the fuel assembly and has an axially split lower tip with an enlarged end and an upper portion having a circumferential threaded region. An inner rod extends axially through the hollow of the outer tube and has a slightly enlarged tip which spreads the split tip of the outer tube to lock the split tip below the lower nozzle of the fuel assembly. A nut is turned down on the upper threaded portion of the outer hollow tube and staked in position to lock the tie rod in position.

Reinforcement for a nuclear fuel assembly

A hand held tool for removing a top nozzle from guide thimbles of a nuclear fuel assembly includes a handling assembly, a lower tool head, a coupling structure, and an actuating mechanism. The handling assembly includes an upper handle and an elongated handle pole attached to the upper handle and extending downwardly therefrom. The lower tool head includes an anchor assembly and a lift assembly. The anchor assembly has elongated probe members insertable into the guide thimbles and expansion sleeves thereon actuatable by the actuating mechanism between disengaged and engaged conditions with the guide thimble. The coupling structure couples both the lift assembly and anchor assembly to the lower end of the handle pole. The coupling structure is operable for connecting the lift assembly and handle pole in a first connected relation in which the lift assembly can be rotated by rotation of the handle pole between unlocked and locked positions relative to the top nozzle and unlatched and latched positions relative to the anchor assembly or in a second connected relation in which the lift assembly can be axially moved by rotation of the handle pole along the handle pole relative to the anchor assembly to cause lifting and detaching of the top nozzle from the guide thimble.

Hand held tool for removing and replacing a removable top nozzle

A method and system for removing fuel rods from a fuel assembly having top and bottom nozzles that are removed and a plurality of grids for uniformly spacing apart the fuel rods is disclosed. The system includes a rod pushing mechanism which pushes a first end of a selected fuel rod such that a second end of the fuel rod extends out of the fuel assembly. The system also includes a removal device adjacent the second end of the selected fuel rod. The removal device engages and pulls the fuel rod completely from the fuel assembly when the second end of the fuel rod extends out of the fuel assembly a distance sufficient to engage the removal device. The method includes the following steps. First, a first end of a selected fuel rod is pushed such that a second end of the fuel rod extends out of the fuel assembly. Then, the second end of the selected fuel rod is engaged with a removal device. Finally, the selected fuel rod is pulled completely from the fuel assembly with the removal device.

Method and apparatus for removing the fuel rods of a nuclear fuel

An improved system for repairing and reconstituting a fuel rod assembly in the spent fuel pool of a nuclear power plant is disclosed herein. The improved system includes a height-adjustable elevator and carriage assembly for lifting and inverting a pair a fuel assemblies with their bottom ends adjacent one another, a length-adjustable rod handling tool having a gripper for gripping, lifting, lowering and ungripping a fuel rod, and a dual-axis tool positioner mountable over the bottom ends of the inverted, adjacent fuel assemblies. The tool positioner includes a funnel-shaped tool guide that is movable over the bottom ends of the fuel assemblies for receiving and positioning the gripper of the rod handling tool. The improved system may be adjusted for use in spent fuel pools of substantially different dimensions and water levels without the need for additional parts, and may be operated by only two technicians.

Reconstitution and repair system for nuclear fuel rod assemblies

A tooling system and method for remotely removing a rod or other component located between the top and bottom nozzles of a fuel rod assembly is disclosed herein. Generally, the tooling system comprises a grinding mechanism including a carbide burr and a high speed air motor for grinding an opening through the adapter plate of the top nozzle of a size sufficient to allow the withdrawal of said component therethrough, a housing fixture connected to the carbide burr of the grinding mechanism for positioning the burr over a point in the adapter plate adjacent to the component to be removed, and an engagement assembly connected to the grinding mechanism for moving the carbide burr into grinding engagement with the adapter plate, and a gripping apparatus insertable through the hole produced by the grinding mechanism for gripping the rod or other component and withdrawing it through the opening. The use of a high-speed air motor in combination with a carbide burr provides a hole in the adapter plate large enough to remove a selected rod from the fuel rod assembly while producing a particulate debris which is, at the most, only about 20 mils in diameter. Unlike the shavings and slivers produced by prior art tooling systems utilizing drill bits, the fine grindings produced by the invention will not lodge themselves within the grids of the fuel rod assemblies and degrade the walls of the fuel rods by a fretting action.

Fuel assembly repair system and method

A mechanical delivery system for remotely positioning an ultrasonic sensor in mating engagement with a component to be inspected has an elongated support which can be manipulated at a first end from a remote location. A second end has an arm for carrying the sensor. A pin connects the arm to a housing which has an opening therein. A pinion gear is connected to the arm and a mating rack gear is connected to an actuator rod for moving the arm between a first position parallel to and within the housing and a second position wherein that portion of the arm carrying the sensor extends laterally of the housing through the housing's opening. The sensor is mounted on the arm such that it is permitted limited rotation about an axis perpendicular to the arm and limited rocking about a point on that axis thereby enabling the sensor to engage the component as a result of manipulation of the first end of the elongated support despite mispositioning of the second end of the support relative to the component.

Growing community of inventors

Penn Hills, PA, United States of America

Alan Savinell