General Electric Company

Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas, LLC

Other

Edward G Apple

David Grey Smith

William C Peters

William B Gaylord, Jr

David Francis Wazybok

James Michael Downs

David O Sheppard

Harold B King

John L Harmon

Russell Patrick Higgins

Michael T Kiernan

Jaime A Zuloaga, Jr

Robert A Haughton

Johnny R Skipper

Charles Frederick Laing

Andrew A Lingenfelter

Jeffrey P Johnson

Robert J Sziemkiewicz

William Williams

Stephanie Baker Lindquist

David Gray Smith

Harry L Batson

James M Gehr

Charles F Lang

An apparatus for measuring perpendicularity of an upper tie plate of a nuclear fuel bundle includes a first comb having a first plurality of teeth; a second comb having a second plurality of teeth, the second comb being parallel to and spaced from the first comb; a comb connector that connects the first comb to the second comb, the comb connector having a second end extending beyond the first comb; a rigid finger provided at the second end of the comb connector; a rotatable gage provided on the second comb; and a mobile finger operatively connected to the gage.

Apparatus and method for measuring and setting perpendicularity of an upper tie plate of a nuclear fuel bundle

A tool to slide a channel on a nuclear reactor fuel bundle assembly, the tool includes: a plate having a slot to receive a handle of the fuel bundle and a lower surface that engages an upper edge of the channel; at least one post extends up from the plate, and an arm is attached to a pivot on the post and includes a first end to receive a downward force and a second end adapted to engage the handle of the fuel bundle to apply an upward force to the handle and push down on the channel.

Channel seating tool for nuclear fuel assembly and method for seating channel on the assembly

A tool kit for adjusting the angular orientation of water rods about respective axes in a nuclear fuel bundle includes a washer wrench, socket, orientator wrenches, orientator gauges and an orientator cap. The washer wrench has opposed jaws having parallel surfaces and reliefs at junctures between the surfaces and the base of the jaws to inhibit rounding off corners of tie bars connected to the water rods. The socket has a corresponding D-shaped recess as the tie bar ends to facilitate rotational adjustment thereof. Orientator wrenches have witness notches for aligning the flats of the tie bars. The orientator gauges comprise a series of gauge bodies each having a pair of axially parallel openings with stepped margins to the openings such that one opening is axially offset from the margin defining the entrance to the other opening. The orientator cap has complementary-shaped openings for receiving the upper ends of the tie bars to maintain the orientation of the tie bars and water rods during shipment of the fuel bundle.

Tool kit for fabricating, inspecting and handling a nuclear fuel bundle

The extraction tool includes an inner rod pivotally mounting at its distal end a pair of collet sections having mechanical clamping jaws. An outer tube may be advanced and retracted axially relative to the inner rod by a locking tube nut threaded on a sleeve forming part of the inner rod. The inner rod and outer tube are non-rotationally engaged with one another. By axially displacing the outer tube relative to the inner rod, the collet sections are movable between collet-open and closed positions such that the jaws of the collet can respectively grasp and release the barbed end of the end plug of the fuel rod.

Tool for retracting fuel rods from and inserting fuel rods into a nuclear fuel assembly and methods therefor

A guide assembly is seated at the upper end of a channel for a nuclear fuel bundle. The guide assembly includes a lower guide plate with an opening corresponding in dimension to the dimension of the spacers of the fuel bundle to be inserted. The lower guide plate mounts depending locators to locate the guide apparatus on the channel. An upper guide plate spaced above the lower guide plate mounts rollers spaced from the lower guide plate a distance corresponding to the distance between the first and second spacers of the fuel bundle. The fuel bundle is lowered through the guide apparatus by engagement of the spacers with the rollers and in the channel opening to ensure the fuel bundle is guided into the channel without damage to either.

Methods for guiding a fuel bundle into a channel

The spacer envelope measurement system includes a generally U-shaped fixture having support plates extensible into positions overlying the spacer for supporting the fixture from the spacer. Extensible heads are carried by the fixture for engaging the spacer, followed by the heads of measurement gauges whereby, upon extending the heads into clamping engagement with the spacer along opposite sides thereof, the measurement gauges accurately determine the lateral dimensions of the irradiated spacer. A spacer bar clamp member is pivotal between positions opening the fixture opposite the base leg of the U-shaped fixture, enabling the bundle to reside within the U-shaped opening and a second position closing the opening for aligning the fixture and the bundle. The measurements are taken under water in a nuclear fuel service pool.

Nuclear fuel bundle spacer envelope dimension measuring system and

The spring force measurement system includes a draw rod standard, an insertion tube and an extension tube, together with a cable received through the tubes connecting the standard and a load cell, in turn connected by the cable to a winch. The draw rod standard is located in the fuel bundle below the spacer having a spring whose spring force is to be measured. By drawing the standard through the spacer cell, the spring force is computed using the measured tension in the connecting cable as the standard is withdrawn and the known values of the coefficient of friction between the spacer spring projection and the draw rod standard and the combined weight of the cable and draw rod standard. The measuring process is repeated for next higher spacers.

Nuclear fuel bundle spacer spring force measurement system

The length gauge includes an elongated standards rod, an indicator location block carrying a gauge and an indicator set block. The set block is applied to the location block and the gauge is zeroed out at a known distance between the movable element on the gauge and a reference surface. Water rods are assembled to a tie plate and the gauge is used to measure the length of the adjustable length water rods. The location block receives in a recess a portion of the tie bar of the water rod. The standards rod engages the tie plate and the gauge pin engages the opposite end of the standards rod. Any deviation in the length of the water rod from a designed length is indicated on the gauge.

Length gauge for in situ measurement of water rod lengths in nuclear

A high pressure laser welding method and apparatus enables seam welding of a nuclear fuel rod at hyperbaric pressure. In an automatic process, a loaded fuel rod and an upper end plug are mated within a sealable weld box. A pressure within the weld box is controlled relative to a pressure within the fuel rod, and a laser assembly welds the seam at hyperbaric pressure. Helium flowing through a laser window nozzle during welding prevents soot contamination of the laser window glass and prevents formation of ionic plasma. The upper end plug fuel rod welding operation is thus reduced to a single step and eliminates inspection related tasks with respect to a sealed hole.

High pressure laser welding of nuclear fuel rods

A grapple is provided for use with a fuel bundle channel of a nuclear reactor wherein the channel is provided with a pair of gussets in opposite corners of an upper end of the channel, each gusset having a hole therein. The grapple includes a pair of lever arms, each provided with a lifting foot at a lower end of the respective lever arm. The lever arms are movable in opposite directions to a channel lifting position wherein the channel gripper of each lever arm is located under a respective one of the pair of channel gussets. The channel lifting foot of each lever arm includes a pair of laterally spaced lifting elements such that the lifting feet may engage the underside of the gusset on either side of the gusset hole. In addition, each channel lifting foot includes a secondary foot or slider captured between the pair of lifting elements. The slider includes a hole which can be aligned with the bolt hole in the gusset, permitting a ball lock pin to be inserted into the holes to thereby securely attach the lifting feet to the channel gussets.

Growing community of inventors

Wilmington, NC, United States of America

Edward G Apple