Elwha LLC

Terrapower, LLC

Jesse R Cheatham, Iii

Roderick A Hyde

Lowell L Wood, Jr

Robert C Petroski

Muriel Y Ishikawa

Jordin T Kare

Clarence T Tegreene

Nathan P Myhrvold

Victoria Y H Wood

Tony S Pan

Charles Whitmer

William David Duncan

David Bazeley Tuckerman

William Henry Gates, Iii

Craig J Mundie

Desney S Tan

Alistair K Chan

Philip Andrew Eckhoff

Eric Leuthardt

Elizabeth A Sweeney

Hon Wah Chin

Nicholas W Touran

Matthew Graham Dyor

Yaroslav Aleksandrovich Urzhumov

Edward K Y Jung

Robert W Lord

Richard T Lord

Michael Koenig

Kimberly D A Hallman

Peter N Glaskowsky

Eun Young Hwang

Thomas A Weaver

Andrew David Wilson

Eric D Rudder

Jeannette M Wing

Paul Henry Dietz

David R Smith

Paul G Allen

Tom Driscoll

Jon David McWhirter

Christopher J Johns

Richard Glen Ellenbogen

Philip V Bayly

David Lozoff Brody

Raul Radovitzky

Anthony Vinson Smith

John Rogers Gilleland

Pavel Hejzlar

Steven Nabil Bathiche

Kenneth Paul Hinckley

Anoop Gupta

Stephen L Malaska

Andreas Georg Nowatzyk

Danny Allen Reed

Alexander Galt Hyde

Bran Ferren

Edward Stuart Boyden

Geoffrey Frank Deane

Joshua C Walter

Max Nathan Mankin

Anselmo T Cisneros, Jr

Jeffery F Latkowski

Robert Alan Corbin

Mark R Werner

James M Vollmer

David Lawrence Tennenhouse

Philip M Schloss

Samuel J Miller

Brian C Johnson

Gary Wachowicz

Joel Cherkis

Neil Jordan

Patrick Neill

Michael Baym

Mahalaxmi Gita Bangera

Kevin J Kramer

Micah J Hackett

Christopher A Martin

Ryan N Latta

Mark W Reed

Bao H Truong

Kevan D Weaver

John Marshall

Bassem S El-Dasher

Charles Gregory Freeman

Derek Bass

Ken Czerwinski

Ryan Abbott

Roger Zaldivar

Roberto Zaldivar

Sean T Mosier

Brian C Kelleher

Calen Kaneko

Daniel Flowers

William M Kerlin

Mark A Havstad

John E Truax

P Harley Park

Michael E Cohen

Francesco Deleo

A nuclear reactor is designed to allow efficient packing of components within the reactor vessel, such as by offsetting the core, and/or vertically stacking components. The in-vessel storage system can be separate from the support cylinder and these components can be fabricated and shipped separately and coupled together at the construction site. Furthermore, the in-vessel storage system can be located adjacent to the core rather than being located circumferentially around it, and may also be located beneath the heat exchanger to further improve packing of components within the vessel. Through these, and other changes, the delicate components can be manufactured in a manufacturing facility, assembled, and shipped by commercial transportation options without exceeding the shipping envelope.

Modular manufacture, delivery, and assembly of nuclear reactor core systems

A method of handling spent nuclear fuel assemblies immerses the spent nuclear fuel assemblies in water in a relatively short time period when compared to traditional methods. A spent nuclear fuel assembly is removed from a nuclear reactor, an inert gas is applied to the fuel assembly, moisture content in the inert gas is gradually increased as it is applied to the fuel assembly, and the fuel assembly is immersed in water. The fuel assembly is immersed relatively quickly, within about 2 hours or less, which improves safety and allows normal processing and handling equipment to care for the fuel assembly. The fuel assembly may then be loaded into a cask for long-term storage and/or disposal.

Fuel handling system, layout, and process for nuclear reactor

A nuclear reactor includes a passive reactivity control nuclear fuel device located in a nuclear reactor core. The passive reactivity control nuclear fuel device includes a multiple-walled fuel chamber having an outer wall chamber and an inner wall chamber contained within the outer wall chamber. The inner wall chamber is positioned within the outer wall chamber to hold nuclear fuel in a molten fuel state within a high neutron importance region. The inner wall chamber allows at least a portion of the nuclear fuel to move in a molten fuel state to a lower neutron importance region while the molten nuclear fuel remains within the inner wall chamber as the temperature of the nuclear fuel satisfies a negative reactivity feedback expansion temperature condition. A duct contains the multiple-walled fuel chamber and flows a heat conducting fluid through the duct and in thermal communication with the outer wall chamber.

Passive reactivity control in a nuclear fission reactor

An integrated energy system includes a nuclear thermal plant situated on a nuclear site. The nuclear thermal plant produces thermal energy that is transported to a thermal energy storage system located outside the nuclear site. The thermal storage system is thermally coupled to a power generation system which is also remote to the nuclear site. By this arrangement, the nuclear thermal plant is isolated and decoupled from the power generation system. The nuclear thermal plant may supply thermal energy upwards of 800° C. or more to be stored at the thermal energy storage system until needed such as for industrial heat, power generation, or other uses. The thermal storage system is source agnostic, and one or more additional thermal energy generators, such as additional nuclear reactors, solar thermal plants, or other thermal energy generators can be coupled to a common thermal storage system and power generation system.

Thermal energy storage system connected to both a nuclear reactor and a power generator

A fast neutron nuclear reactor contains a nuclear reactor core having an array of device locations. Some device locations in the nuclear reactor core contain fissile and fertile nuclear fuel assembly devices. One or more other device locations in the nuclear reactor core contain Doppler reactivity augmentation devices that amplify the negativity of the Doppler reactivity coefficient within the nuclear reactor core. In some implementations, a Doppler reactivity augmentation device can also reduce the coolant temperature coefficient within the nuclear reactor core. Accordingly, a Doppler reactivity augmentation device contributes to a more stable nuclear reactor core.

Doppler reactivity augmentation device

A fuel element has a ratio of area of fissionable nuclear fuel in a cross-section of the tubular fuel element perpendicular to the longitudinal axis to total area of the interior volume in the cross-section of the tubular fuel element that varies with position along the longitudinal axis. The ratio can vary with position along the longitudinal axis between a minimum of 0.30 and a maximum of 1.0. Increasing the ratio above and below the peak burn-up location associated with conventional systems reduces the peak burn-up and flattens and shifts the burn-up distribution, which is preferably Gaussian. The longitudinal variation can be implemented in fuel assemblies using fuel bodies, such as pellets, rods or annuli, or fuel in the form of metal sponge and meaningfully increases efficiency of fuel utilization.

Fuel element with multi-smear density fuel

A control assembly for a nuclear reactor includes a first reactivity control assembly having a first neutron modifying material, a second reactivity control assembly having a second neutron modifying material, and at least one drive mechanism coupled to the first neutron modifying material and the second neutron modifying material. The first neutron modifying material and the second neutron modifying material are selectively repositionable relative to a fuel region of the nuclear reactor. The at least one drive mechanism is configured to provide the first neutron modifying material and the second neutron modifying material in different directions through the fuel region thereby shifting a flux distribution within the fuel region away from the second neutron modifying material.

Flux-shifting reactivity control system

Radiation cured composite materials are greatly improved by enhancing the fiber to matrix bond by prewetting the fibers with an interface resin that has a curing agent mixed in with the interface resin. Furthermore, radiation curing the composite material at or near an expected operating temperature of the composite material improves the mechanical properties of the material by reducing thermally induced strains and stresses caused by thermally curing a material and subsequently cooling the material. Adding an interface resin with a curing agent to the fibers allows relatively thick parts, a must faster curing process, a wide variety of inexpensive and easily workable molding materials, the ability to maintain tight tolerances and reduce or eliminate springback, and a radiation cured material that approaches or exceeds the material characteristics of thermally cured composite materials.

Radiation cured composite materials

A molten salt reactor includes a nuclear reactor core for sustaining a nuclear fission reaction fueled by a molten fuel salt. A molten fuel salt control system removes a volume of the molten fuel salt from the nuclear reactor core to maintain a reactivity parameter within a range of nominal reactivity. The molten fuel salt control system includes a molten fuel salt exchange system that fluidically couples to the nuclear reactor core and exchanges a volume of the molten fuel salt with a volume of a feed material containing a mixture of a selected fertile material and a carrier salt. The molten fuel salt control system can include a volumetric displacement control system having one or more volumetric displacement bodies insertable into the nuclear reactor core. Each volumetric displacement body can remove a volume of molten fuel salt from the nuclear reactor core, such as via a spill-over system.

Fission reaction control in a molten salt reactor

Illustrative embodiments provide for the operation and simulation of the operation of fission reactors, including the movement of materials within reactors. Illustrative embodiments and aspects include, without limitation, nuclear fission reactors and reactor modules, including modular nuclear fission reactors and reactor modules, nuclear fission deflagration wave reactors and reactor modules, modular nuclear fission deflagration wave reactors and modules, methods of operating nuclear reactors and modules including the aforementioned, methods of simulating operating nuclear reactors and modules including the aforementioned, and the like.

Enhanced neutronics systems

The present disclosure relates to systems, methods, and devices that may be used to incentivize inhaler use.

Systems, methods, and devices to incentivize inhaler use

Systems, methods, computer-readable storage mediums including computer-readable instructions and/or circuitry for control of transmission to a target device with communicating with one or more sensors in an ad-hoc sensor network may implement operations including, but not limited to: receiving electrical power via at least one structurally integrated electrically conductive element; and powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors via the electrical power.

Ad-hoc wireless sensor package

Growing community of inventors

Seattle, WA, United States of America

Jesse R Cheatham, Iii