General Electric Company

Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas, LLC

Hewlett-packard Company

Robert B Elkins

Bruce Matzner

Thomas G Dunlap

Harold B King

Eric B Johansson

Edward A Croteau

Christian D Frederickson

Mark J Colby

David Grey Smith

Russell Patrick Higgins

Gerald M Latter

Richard A Wolters

Russell L Crowther

Gary E Dix

Russell M Fawcett

Russell Edward Stachowski

Anthony P Reese

David W White

Kevin L Ledford

Richard A Proebstle

Michael V Curulla

John Frederick Schardt

Richard Carl Longren

Paul W Sick

Thomas G Evans

John L Harmon

Michael Scott DeFilippis

Carlton Wayne Clark

Daniel Reese Lutz

Michael T Kiernan

James E Holden

Gerald A Potts

Yang-Pi Lin

Jaime A Zuloaga, Jr

Gerald Anthony Luciano

Roland Otto Jackson

Michael S Defilippis

David W Danielson

Gary S Martin

Richard D Wittmeier

Cary L Kunz

Michael J Sullivan

Carl R Mefford

Mason Dennis Makovicka

Richard G Patterson

Robert A Rand

Richard E Kingston

Hiroaki Kagami

Hideyuki Mukai

Jerry T Spell

Ararat Pogosian

Locksley V Hampton

Dennis D Kessen

Peter J Savoia

Sten O Akerlund

David Smith

Michael Kiernan

Russell Morgan Fawcett

Michael S De Filippis

Russell Stachowski

A nuclear reactor fuel bundle assembly including: a fuel bundle including an array of fuel rods and water rods mounted in an upper tie plate and housed in walls of a channel, and a pore type debris shield mounted at least partially in the channel, above or below the upper tie plate, the shield extending to or over the walls of the channel, whereby deflecting and/or capturing falling debris from entering the fuel assembly, wherein the shield is design to be durable, yet flexible, and porous.

Debris shield upper tie plate for nuclear fuel assembly and method to shield assembly from debris

A debris filter for reactor coolant includes a plurality of adjacent plates defining a plurality of channels therebetween, each of said channels being at an angle to the flow path of the coolant into the filter.

Debris filter

Disclosed herein are zirconium-based alloys that may be fabricated to form nuclear reactor components, particularly fuel cladding tubes, that exhibit sufficient corrosion resistance and hydrogen absorption characteristics, without requiring a late stage &#x3b1;+&#x3b2; or &#x3b2;-quenching processes. The zirconium-base alloys will include between about 1.30-1.60 wt % tin; 0.0975-0.15 wt % chromium; 0.16-0.24 wt % iron; and up to about 0.08 wt % nickel, with the total content of the iron, chromium and nickel comprising at least about 0.3175 wt % of the alloy. The resulting components will exhibit a surface region having a mean precipitate sizing of between about 50 and 100 nm and a Sigma A of less than about 2&#xd7;10hour with the workpiece processing generally being limited to temperatures below 680&#xb0; C. for extrusion and below 625&#xb0; C. for all other operations, thereby simplifying the fabrication of the nuclear reactor components while providing corrosion resistance comparable with conventional alloys.

Non-heat treated zirconium alloy fuel cladding and a method of manufacturing the same

A nuclear fuel assembly includes a fuel bundle resting on a lower tie plate. The lower tie plate includes a grid having raised bosses disposed in a rectilinear array for receiving the end plugs of the fuel rods and webs interconnecting the bosses. Between the raised bosses and the end plugs, there is disposed a filter plate having holes registering with the holes through the bosses for receiving the end plugs and apertures providing an approximate 40% open area through the filter plate. The webs of the tie plate grid are recessed from the upper edges of the bosses, facilitating flow through the apertures of the filter plate.

Perforated debris catcher for a nuclear fuel assembly

A nuclear fuel bundle has differential peak power limits for the edge or peripheral fuel rods and the interior fuel rods. Also, the magnitude of nuclear fuel in the edge or peripheral rods is decreased in comparison with the magnitude of nuclear fuel in the interior rods. The nuclear reactor can thus operate at higher power output by decreasing the margins between the power outputs and peak power limit of the interior rods, as well as by decreasing the margins between the power outputs of the edge or peripheral rods and the increased peak power limit of those rods. The outer or peripheral edge rods can also be enriched for enhanced power output.

Nuclear fuel bundle having different peak power limits

A control rod includes four panels in cruciform section each containing a plurality of absorber tubes. The absorber tubes are mounted between upper and lower mounting structures having generally T-shaped slots opening toward one another. The absorber tubes have generally T-shaped end plugs for reception in the slots. The slots and end plugs are configured to permit limited axial movement of each absorber tube relative to the control rod and to adjacent tubes. The absorber tubes are maintained in tension during all nuclear operations including during a scram.

Control rod for a nuclear reactor having mounting structures for

In a fuel bundle for a boiling water nuclear reactor comprising a plurality of fuel rods secured within an array and extending between upper and lower tie plates, and including at least one additional fuel rod extending from the lower tie plate but terminating short of the upper tie plate, an improvement wherein a removable extension rod secured to the at least one additional fuel rod and extending substantially to the upper tie plate. The removable extension rod is in the form of a hollow tube having a plurality of openings therein and an internal flow path over an axial portion of the hollow tube, the flow path serving to cause coolant in the hollow tube to be deposited on adjacent fuel rods.

Part length fuel rod extension

The spacer comprises a plurality of strips interleaved with one another to form an eggcrate-type pattern defining essentially rectilinear cells for each fuel rod. Each strip includes a central body portion with cantilevered loop spring-like projections extending to opposite sides, with spring contact portions projecting inwardly. Stops are provided along each of the central body regions of the strips intermediate the loop springs that project to the opposite side of the strip. Adjoining walls have loop spring portions for biasing the rod into engagement with opposing stops whereby each fuel rod is supported at six contact points, i.e., four spring contact points and two hard stop contacts opposite the paired spring contacts.

Multi-spring strip spacer for nuclear fuel bundles

A latch pin assembly is configured to enable selective engagement with at least one of the fuel assembly channel and the coolant rod such that the fuel assembly channel and the coolant rod can be selectively utilized to support the fuel assembly load, thereby eliminating the need for fuel tie rods. The latch pin assembly includes a latch pin selectively engageable with the fuel assembly channel and the coolant rod, and an anchoring assembly cooperating with the latch pin, wherein the anchoring assembly anchors the latch pin in a selected position such that the latch pin engages at least one of the fuel assembly channel and the coolant rod. The latch pin may be alternatively engageable with the fuel assembly channel and the coolant rod or simultaneously engageable with the fuel assembly channel and the coolant rod. With this arrangement, the bail handle can be used both to remove the entire assembly including the fuel assembly channel from the reactor vessel or to remove only the fuel bundle from the reactor vessel, leaving the fuel assembly channel in place.

Fuel assembly structure selectively using channel and coolant rod for

The spacer for a nuclear fuel bundle includes unit cells having upper and lower, generally octagonally shaped walls connected one to the other by spring leg portions along sides thereof 90.degree. apart. The walls also carry stops in opposition to the sides of the walls to which the spring leg portions are connected. By orienting the cells in the spacer such that the majority of the cells have their stops lying toward one side of the spacer, the fuel bundle can be disposed in a horizontal position on the one side of the spacers. In that manner, the dead load of the fuel rods and spacers is borne by the stops along the underside of each spacer without substantially loading the springs of the spacer cells.

Spacer for a transportable nuclear fuel rod bundle

In a nuclear reactor fuel bundle assembly having a plurality of fuel rods and a non-round water rod extending between upper and lower tie plates, and having at least one fuel rod spacer located along the non-round water rod, an improvement which includes cooperating components on the fuel rod spacer and on the water rod for permitting movement of the spacer along the water rod to a desired axial location and for thereafter preventing further axial movement of the spacer in at least one of two opposite axial directions, the cooperating components including at least one spring on one of the spacer and the water rod.

Spacer capture mechansim for non-round water rods

The control rod includes a plurality of elongated tubes containing neutron-absorbing material in a planar array to form wings on opposite sides of a central axis of the control rod. Each tube is formed with a plurality of protuberances in excess of four such that the tubes can be welded to adjacent tubes with the weld lines disposed inwardly of the side surfaces of the wings to improve the flexibility of the control rod. The wings of each planar array have connecting elements of each other planar array thereof, enabling lateral movement of the planar arrays of wings relative to one another to further enhance flexibility and movement of the control rod between the fuel channels of the nuclear core.

Control rod for a nuclear reactor

A spacer for a nuclear fuel bundle comprises a plurality of discrete, generally cylindrical ferrules, with each ferrule having a pair of circumferentially spaced fuel rod contacting portions along one side of the ferrule and three superposed openings in the ferrule along an opposite side thereof. A leaf spring having opposite end projecting portions and a central projecting portion is disposed between adjacent ferrules with the end projecting portions and the central portion disposed within the openings of the ferrule. The central portion includes a boss projecting inwardly for engagement against the fuel rod in one ferrule and the end projections contain bosses projecting inwardly and spaced from the fuel rod of the one ferrule. The end projections bear against an adjacent ferrule. The spring is captured between the two ferrules and contacts the ferrules at a plurality of laterally and vertically spaced contact points so that the spring is stabilized against flow-induced vibration.

Reduced height flat spring spacer for nuclear fuel rods

In a nuclear fuel rod assembly including a plurality of fuel rods and at least one water rod held together in a bundle, and wherein end plugs at the lower ends of the fuel rods and the at least one water rod engage a lower tie plate, an improvement wherein the end plug at the lower end of the at least one water rod is hollow and includes a multi-diameter flow metering bore for regulating coolant flow into the water rod.

Water rod flow metering within the water rod lower end plug

A fuel assembly for a nuclear reactor vessel includes a plurality of fuel rods, at least one coolant rod, a lower tie plate supporting the fuel rods and coolant rod, and a channel surrounding the fuel rods, coolant rod and tie plate. The lower tie plate is supported by the channel such that the channel carries a load of the fuel assembly. In one aspect of the invention, an upper tie plate includes two spring loaded latch pins engageable with corresponding apertures in the channel. A transition member supports the lower tie plate and is rigidly secured to the channel. Thus, when lifting the fuel assembly from the reactor, the channel bears the load of the fuel assembly. End gussets or clips are welded to the channel and inserted into the transition member, which serve as a secondary support for the transition member in the event that its primary connection to the channel fails. A channel guide member is secured to the, upper tie plate and includes two ears that are received in ear apertures in the channel. The channel guide and ears thus provide a redundant attachment between the tie plate and the channel in the event that the spring loaded latch pins fail. If it is desired to remove the fuel bundle from the channel, the upper tie plate is released from the assembly by detaching the guide member and releasing the spring loaded latch pins. The bundle can then be removed from the channel by attaching a grapple head to the coolant rod ends, which are specially shaped to facilitate an attachment tool.

Fuel assembly structure using channel for load support

Growing community of inventors

Wilmington, NC, United States of America

Robert B Elkins