General Atomic Company

General Atomics, Inc.

John A Kissinger

Edwin J Hurn

A container which is particularly useful for shipping fuel assemblies is provided herein. The portable container includes a first end, enclosed second end and a tubular wall which cooperates with the first end and the second to define a selectively sealed inner chamber for receiving the fuel assemblies containing the radioactive material. The tubular wall includes a tubular, substantially sealed liquid section which substantially encircles the inner chamber. A divider separates the liquid section into a main reservoir and an auxiliary reservoir which are substantially side by side. A transfer passage is provided through the divider near a lower portion of the liquid section. The transfer passage connects the main reservoir in fluid communication with the auxiliary reservoir and allows for the transfer of liquid between the main reservoir and the auxiliary reservoir to maintain the main reservoir substantially full of liquid. The container detailed herein is designed to be within the guidelines established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and, when loaded with radioactive spent fuel and carried by a tractor-trailer, to be within the legal truck shipping weight.

Shipping container for radioactive material

A nuclear reactor system is described wherein a prestressed concrete reactor vessel is provided with a main cavity for the reactor core and at least one subsidiary cavity for a steam generator. At least two feedwater penetrations are provided in the reactor vessel communicating between the exterior of the reactor vessel and the subsidiary cylindrical cavity. A superheater penetration is provided aligned with the axis of the cavity with the feedwater penetrations and the superheater penetration having mutually parallel axes. Superheater outlet means are positioned in the superheater penetration and include a tubesheet positioned a substantial distance from both the subsidiary cylindrical cavity and the exterior of the reactor vessel.

Nuclear reactor system with aligned feedwater and superheater

An annular heat exchanger assembly is described which is particularly suited for structurally self supporting installation in a vapor generator associated with a nuclear reactor. The assembly includes parallel inlet and outlet header conduits interconnected by a multiplicity of helical tubes, adjacent portions of these tubes being tied together to increase structural integrity of the annular tube bundle formed by the helical tubes. Various baffles are employed as necessary to promote uniform flow of a heating fluid over the tubes in the tube bundle, preferably in a radial direction of flow.

Radial flow heat exchanger

A support assembly in a heat exchanger for securing tubes of a tube bundle in parallel, spaced-apart relation includes a plurality of concentrically arranged tube support rings for respectively securing circumferential groups of tubes in the tube bundle, each tube support ring being formed with inner and outer cylindrical support elements rigidly interconnected by a number of circumferentially spaced apart radial bars.

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San Diego, CA, United States of America

John A Kissinger