Westinghouse Electric Sweden Ab

Westinghouse Electric Company LLC

Westinghouse Atom Ab

Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba Aka Toshiba Corporation

Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation

Lars Hallstadius

Edward Jean Lahoda

Mats Dahlback

Mats Dahlbäck

Peng Xu

James T Dougherty

Magnus Limbäck

Simon Charles Middleburgh

Joon Hyung Choi

Fumihisa Kano

John Bates

Sture Helmersson

Mattias Puide

Radu O Pomirleanu

Robert J Comstock

Sumit Ray

Peter Rudling

Anders Soderlund

Carina Önneby

Anders Söderlund

Hans Widegren

Shinichi Higuchi

Gunnar Vesterlund

Björn Rebensdorff

Steven J King

Britta Helmersson

Elena Calota

Per Seltborg

Shinichi Higuichi

Paul Blair

Mikael Jolkkonen

Kenneth GÖRANSSON

Karin Backman

Magnus LIMBÄCK

Steven King

Radu Pomirleanu

A uranium oxide fuel pellet having an inner region and an outer rim region about the inner region, and that the fuel pellet is cylindrical and the inner region and outer rim region are coaxial cylindrical regions. The outer rim region has an excess of oxygen in comparison to the inner region, wherein high burnup structure (HBS) formation will be suppressed or delayed. Preferably, the excess oxygen is obtained by a chemical treatment by immersing the pellet in hydrogen peroxide (HO) or potassium permanganate (KMnO) in solution.

Fuel pellet

A fuel assembly for a nuclear reactor, a fuel rod of the fuel assembly, and a ceramic nuclear fuel pellet of the fuel rod are disclosed. The fuel pellet includes a first fissile material of UB, The boron of the UBis enriched to have a concentration of the isotopeB that is higher than for natural B.

Ceramic nuclear fuel having UB2 enriched in 11B

A method of making a nuclear fuel pellet for a nuclear power reactor. The method includes: providing a nuclear fuel material in powder form, the nuclear material is based on UO; providing an additive; forming a green pellet, wherein said additive is added either to said nuclear fuel material or to the green pellet; and sintering the green pellet, wherein said additive causes larger grains in the nuclear fuel pellet, and wherein said additive is made of or includes a substance which causes the larger grains and which substantially leaves at least an outer portion of the pellet before and/or during the sintering step, wherein said substance is made of, or comprises, B and/or Cr.

Method of making a nuclear fuel pellet for a nuclear power reactor

A method of providing an end-capped tubular ceramic composite for containing nuclear fuel () in a nuclear reactor involves the steps of providing a tubular ceramic composite (), providing at least one end plug (), applying () the at least one end plug material to the ends of the tubular ceramic composite, applying electrodes to the end plug and tubular ceramic composite and applying current in a plasma sintering means () to provide a hermetically sealed tube (). The invention also provides a sealed tube made by this method.

SiC matrix fuel cladding tube with spark plasma sintered end plugs

A control rod for a nuclear boiling water reactor is described. The control rod has a longitudinal centre axis and control rod blades, each control rod blade having a first and a second side and being substantially parallel to the longitudinal center axis. Each control rod blade comprises an absorber material which extends from a first absorber end to a second absorber end, the distance between the first absorber end and the second absorber end defining an active length. The control rod blades are provided with distance means on the first and second sides of the control rod blades, the distance means extending a distance of at least a third of the active length of the control rod blade.

Control rod

The invention concerns a control rod configured for a nuclear power light water reactor of the BWR or PWR kind. The control rod contains absorber material. At least 50%, with respect to weight, of the absorber material that is in the control rod is in the form of hafnium hydride. The invention also concerns the use of such a control rod during operation in a nuclear power light water reactor of the BWR or PWR kind.

Control rod for a nuclear power light water reactor

A fuel assembly for a nuclear boiling water reactor is provided. The reactor comprises a plurality of such fuel assemblies and a plurality of control rods. Each control rod is insertable between the fuel assemblies. The fuel assembly has a longitudinal center axis and includes a plurality of elongated fuel rods and an elongated channel box. The channel box has inner sides, facing the fuel rods, and outer sides. Each inner and outer side has a longitudinal center line extending in parallel with the center axis and along the length of the channel box. A number of protrusions are distributed along the center line of at least two of the outer sides. The protrusions are configured to ensure a minimum distance between the outer side and an adjacent control rod and to enable the control rod to easily slide over and on top of the protrusions.

Fuel assembly

The invention relates to a final, ready to use, spacer grid for a nuclear boiling water reactor. The final spacer grid comprises: i) a spacer grid structure made of an alloy that has been formed and assembled such that it constitutes a spacer grid, and ii) an outer oxide coating on the surface of the spacer grid structure. Said alloy is a Ni base alloy that consists of the following: (table) The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing the final spacer grid according to the invention.

Spacer grid

A method of manufacturing an optimized sheet metal () of a zirconium based alloy is described, which optimized sheet metal () defines a sheet plane (BA). The method comprises the steps of providing a sheet metal () of a zirconium based. alloy, subjecting the sheet metal () to at least a preparing cold rolling and a final cold rolling, wherein the preparing cold rolling and the final cold rolling are both performed in a common rolling direction, and heat treating the sheet metal () between the preparing cold rolling and the final cold rolling so that the zirconium based alloy is partially re-crystallized. A method of manufacturing a spacer grid using an optimized sheet metal () according to the invention is also described.

Spacer grid for positioning of fuel rods

A water reactor fuel cladding tube () is described. The tube () comprises an outer layer () of a first zirconium based alloy and has metallurgically bonded thereto an inner layer () of a second zirconium based alloy. The inner layer protects () the cladding tube () against stress corrosion cracking. The second zirconium based alloy comprises tin as an alloying material, and each one of the zirconium based alloys comprises at least 96 percent by weight zirconium. The first zirconium based alloy comprises at least 0.1 percent by weight niobium. A method of manufacturing the cladding tube () is also described and comprises the step of co-extruding two tubes of different zirconium based alloys to produce the cladding tube ().

Water reactor fuel cladding tube

The present invention relates to nuclear fuel compositions including triuranium disilicide. The triuranium disilicide includes a uranium component which includes uranium-235. The uranium-235 is present in an amount such that it constitutes from about 0.7% to about 5% by weight based on the total weight of the uranium component of the triuranium disilicide. The nuclear fuel compositions of the present invention are particularly useful in light water reactors.

Triuranium disilicide nuclear fuel composition for use in light water reactors

A method for manufacturing a sheet metal for use in a boiling water nuclear reactor and such a sheet metal. The method includes providing a material of a zirconium alloy that includes zirconium, and whose main alloying materials include niobium. The material is annealed so that essentially all niobium containing secondary phase particles are transformed to &#x3b2;-niobium particles.

Fuel box in a boiling water nuclear reactor

A method of producing a cladding tube for nuclear fuel for a nuclear pressure water reactor includes forming a tube which at least principally consists of a cylindrical tube component of a zirconium-based alloy, where the alloying element, except for zirconium, which has the highest content in the alloy is niobium, wherein the niobium content in weight percent is between about 0.5 and about 2.4 and wherein no alloying element, except for zirconium and niobum, in the alloy, has a content which exceeds about 0.2 weight percent. The cladding tube is then annealed such that the tube component is partly but not completely recrystallized. The degree of recrystallization in the tube component is higher than about 40% and lower than about 95%. A fuel assembly for a nuclear pressure water reactor also has a plurality of such cladding tubes.

Method, use and device concerning cladding tubes for nuclear fuel and a fuel assembly for a nuclear pressure water reactor

A component ( ) designed for use in a light water reactor and at least partly comprised by a metal and/or a metal alloy presents a coatings ( ) at its outer surface ( ) and its inner surface( ). The coating ( and respectively) has as its task to protect the surface ( and respectively), against oxidation, corrosion, wear and hydration. The coating ( and respectively) suitably comprises at least one of zirconium dioxide (ZrO ) and zirconium nitride (ZrN).

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Västerås, Sweden

Lars Hallstadius