General Electric Company

Ge-hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC

Grant Clark Jensen

John Geddes Erbes

James Edward Charnley

Robert W Whitling

Siamak Bourbour

Jeffrey L Thompson

Henry Peter Offer

Bettadapur N Sridhar

Lawrence Michael Grycko

David Bryan Drendel

Arunachalam Mahadevan

A compression sleeve for use in BWR jet pump sensing line repairs is configured to maintain its physical characteristics in an operating nuclear reactor environment. The sleeve includes shaped ends to accommodate deformation and flow of the sleeve so as to form a seal between jet pump sensing line components. A mechanical coupling assembly for repairing a jet pump sensing line is configured to include the compression sleeve.

Compression sleeves usable in nuclear reactors

A support clamp assembly for mechanically securing a thermal sleeve to an elbow conduit in a jet pump of a nuclear reactor vessel, the support clamp assembly including: a tension shaft having a first end extendable through an opening in a sidewall of the elbow conduit and an opposite end with a head; a cruciform assembly having a base with an opening to receive the tension shaft and to abut the head of the shaft, wherein the cruciform assembly seats in the thermal sleeve; a boss slidable over the first end of the tension shaft and having a curved surface seating an outside surface of the elbow conduit, and a coupling device engaging the first end of the tension shaft and abutting the boss, wherein the coupling device places the tension shaft under tension to secure the cruciform assembly to the thermal sleeve and the boss to the elbow conduit.

Apparatus for repairing riser pipe elbow weld in boiling water nuclear reactor

An elbow clamp assembly structurally supports or replaces a connection between a main pipe and an elbow pipe. The elbow clamp assembly includes an upper clamp body and a lower clamp body securable on opposite sides of the main pipe in facing relation. The upper and lower clamp bodies are connected by a clamp bolt extendable through the main pipe. An elbow boss is securable to the elbow pipe, and a cross bolt is extendable through the elbow pipe and connected between the elbow boss and the clamp bolt.

Method for repairing a core spray line elbow weld joint

A jet pump sensing line support clamp may be used for sensing line repair, replacement, and damage prevention or reduction. The clamp may affix to jet pump sensing line supports and confine the individual jet pump sensing lines. The clamp may provide for further access or securing of the lines in the support through the clamp. Methods of installing the clamp may include attaching and tightening the clamp against the sensing lines.

Method and apparatus for repairing a jet pump line support

A method for attaching a core spray sparger T-box clamp for a sparger T-box in a shroud of a nuclear reactor pressure vessel assembling the anchor plate, bearing plate and saddle bracket; positioning the assembly of the anchor plate, bearing plate and saddle bracket in front of the T-box such that the saddle bracket is below a sidewall of the T-box; elevating the assembly to seat the saddle bracket against a lower surface of the sidewall and sliding a locating pin on the saddle bracket into an aperture in the sidewall; lowering a carrier plate onto an upper surface of the sidewall and attaching the carrier plate to the anchor plate, wherein a locating pin on the carrier plate slides into an aperture on the upper surface, and advancing the bearing plate to the T-box to bias a bearing plate against a cover plate of the T-box.

Method to apply a clamp to a core spray sparger T-box

A clamping device supports or structurally replaces a weld joint between connected pipes. The clamping device includes an upper clamp body and a lower clamp body securable on opposite sides of the connected pipes in facing relation, and at least one clamp bolt connecting the upper and lower clamp bodies and extendable through the connected pipes. One of the upper and lower clamp bodies has at least one shaped depression, which receives a complementary shaped clamp bolt nut engageable with the clamp bolt. The shaped depression prevents rotation of the clamp bolt nut.

Apparatus and method for repairing a core spray line pipe weld joint

Method for repairing riser pipe elbow weld in boiling water nuclear reactor

A core spray sparger T-box clamp for a sparger T-box in a shroud of a nuclear reactor pressure vessel, the sparger T-box clamp including: an anchor plate substantially aligned with a closed end of the T-box; a carrier plate slidably secured to an upper side the anchor plate and latched to the T-box; a saddle bracket secured to a lower side of the anchor plate and latched to the T-box, and a pair of clamp blocks on opposite sides of the anchor plate fixed to sparger pipes coupled to the T-box.

Core spray sparger T-box attachment and clamp and method for clamping

Example embodiments are directed to core spray sparger T-box repairs, specifically, to universal core spray sparger T-box weldless clamps having remote-friendly operation and methods of using universal core spray sparger T-box weldless clamps. Example embodiment clamps may be secured without welding to a variety of upper and lower sparger T-box configurations. Example embodiment clamps may be configured to simultaneously engage a sparger T-box in multiple dimensions to allow a universal fit. Further, example embodiment clamps may be accessed, installed, or removed by interacting only with a front side of the example embodiment clamps, thus potentially reducing difficulty and cost in remote access repairs to example clamps.

Core spray sparger T-box clamp assemblies and methods of using thereof

A slip joint clamp is disclosed which structurally replaces cracked welded joints in the core spray downcomer slip joint coupling, which is part of the lower portion of internal core spray piping internal to a reactor vessel of a Boiling Water Reactor plant. The internal piping delivers core spray cooling water to the reactor core region. The clamp assembly consists of a primary clamp housing and a secondary clamp housing, which are rotationally joined together by a hinge assembly including a hinge pin. The clamp assembly is installed at a desired elevation relative to the downcomer slip joint, and then secured to the downcomer piping by installing coupling bolts and associated coupling bolt keeper nuts that hold the primary and secondary clamp housings in a facing relationship to one another around the downcomer slip joint.

Apparatus for repairing a core spray downcomer pipe slip joint coupling

Apparatus and method for repairing a core spray line elbow weld joint

A clamp is disclosed which structurally replaces a cracked Pweld in the piping of a BWRi's core spray line. The clamp includes upper and lower clamp bodies that are joined together by clamp bolts held by keeper nuts with crimp collars engaging the bolts. Upper and lower curved jaws of the clamp bodies contact the piping at a plurality of contact points to form gaps between the piping and curved jaws to thereby ensure that the clamp engages the piping and seals the cracked weld. Conically shaped ends of stop bolts inserted into the upper curved jaw seat into conical holes machined in the core spray line piping to prevent the piping cracked weld from separating after the clamp is installed.

Method and apparatus for repairing a flawed welded joint in a core spray piping system

A slip joint assembly has been developed for a downcomer pipe in a core spray system of a nuclear reactor pressure vessel, the slip joint assembly including: a housing sleeve formed around a slip joint in the downcomer pipe, wherein an annular gap exists between an inside surface of the housing sleeve and the downcomer pipe; an upper wedge and a lower wedge insertable in the gap; a wedge bolt extending through the gap and extending through the upper wedge and lower wedge, wherein the bolt applies a force pulling the upper and lower wedge together to secure the housing sleeve to the downcomer pipe; an upper pin extending from the housing sleeve into an aperture of an upper section of the downcomer pipe, and a lower pin extending from the housing sleeve into an aperture of a lower section of the downcomer pipe.

Method and system for repairing a downcomer pipe in a core spray for a nuclear reactor

A core spray sparger T-box attachment assembly for a nuclear reactor pressure vessel, wherein the pressure vessel includes a shroud, a sparger T-box penetrating the shroud, a plurality of sparger distribution header pipes coupled to the sparger T-box, and a downcomer pipe. The sparger header pipes may include at least one sparger nozzle, and the sparger T-box attachment assembly may include a downcomer pipe coupling and a sparger T-box clamp. The sparger T-box clamp may include an anchor plate having a draw bolt opening to receive a draw bolt, a first clamp block substantially aligned at one end of the anchor plate, and a second clamp block substantially aligned at the other end of the anchor plate.

Growing community of inventors

Morgan Hill, CA, United States of America

Grant Clark Jensen