Westinghouse Electric Company LLC

Patrick A Hellandbrand, Jr

Richard P Broders

Kenneth V Margotta

Michael O Bausch

Stephen C Kereakoglow

Michael J Sponzo

A nuclear fuel assembly having an instrumentation tube having an insert that centers the in-core instrumentation while permitting bugling or welding of the instrumentation tube wall to a grid strap to obtain a rigid connection there between at any elevation along the instrumentation tube.

Nuclear fuel assembly

A secure connection between the bottom nozzle of a nuclear fuel assembly and the control rod guide thimbles having two or four crimped pockets in the side wall of a bottom nozzle leg counterbore which are formed by drilling two or four blind holes through the top surface of the bottom nozzle. After attaching the bottom nozzle to the fuel assembly with a crimp bolt a pneumatic tool is then inserted into a flanged cup feature on the crimp bolt head and the flanged portion of the cup feature of the crimp bolt is deformed into the crimp pockets. The crimp pockets are contained within the leg counterbore and prevent the screw from rotating or falling out of the assembly in the event of preload loss or screw fracture.

Nuclear fuel assembly control rod drive thimble to bottom nozzle connector

A protective hose, and a method of making the same, for an in-core instrument assembly used in a nuclear reactor, including a first end that is hermetically sealed to a first member of in-core instrument assembly such as a bullet nose, a second end that is hermetically sealed to a second member of said in-core instrument assembly such as a seal plug, and a body portion that surrounds at least one detector in the in-core instrument assembly, and has flexible, corrugated outer and inner surfaces. The body portion includes a series of ribs having peaks. The hose is compacted in length to a degree that the peaks of the ribs are substantially adjacent to one another. The ribs also have side surfaces that decline from the peaks to valley portions that are disposed between the side surfaces. The hose is compacted in length to a degree that the side surfaces are completely in physical contact with one another.

Growing community of inventors

East Hartford, CT, United States of America

Patrick A Hellandbrand, Jr