Hitachi, Ltd.

Taro Ueki

Junichi Yamashita

Motoo Aoyama

Akinobu Nakajima

Osamu Yokomizo

Sadao Uchikawa

Junjiro Nakajima

Yasunori Bessho

Yasuhiro Masuhara

Kunitoshi Kurihara

Yukihisa Fukasawa

Hideo Soneda

Yoko Ishibashi

Sadayuki Izutsu

A fuel assembly comprises fuel rods arrayed in a square lattice pattern of 10 rows and 10 columns, and three large-diameter water rods arranged along a diagonal line of the fuel assembly in such a region as able to accommodate 10 fuel rods. Partial length fuel rods are arranged in an outermost layer of the fuel rod array at fuel rod setting positions other than corners of the outermost layer. Ordinary fuel rods are arranged in a layer inside the outermost layer and adjacent to the outermost layer at positions adjacent to the partial length fuel rods in the outermost layer. The struction of the fuel assembly enables a reduction in the void coefficient and an improvement in the reactivity control capability. Also, the void coefficient can be reduced without lowering reactivity, and fuel economy is improved.

Fuel assembly and reactor core

A fuel assembly has a plurality of first fuel rods and a plurality of second fuel rods having a shorter length in an axial direction than the first fuel rods. The second fuel rod is loaded with natural uranium in full length of its effective fuel length portion. The fuel assembly has a water rod having a larger horizontal cross sectional area at the upper region than the area at the lower region. The second fuel rods are arranged downward of the upper region of the water rod and adjacent to the lower region of the water rod. The width of the horizontal cross sectional area of the lower region of the water rod is set so as to locate the minimum values of both thermal neutron flux and resonance neutron flux in the horizontal direction of the fuel assembly at an outer side with respect the location of the second fuel rod in the horizontal direction. In accordance with the present invention, the H/U ratio in the axial direction becomes close to the optimum value, and increment of the resonance neutron absorption and flattening of the thermal neutron flux in the horizontal direction are achieved.

The fuel assembly has fuel arrangement of a square lattice of 10 lines by 10 rows. Four water rods having a large diameter are arranged in central region of horizontal cross section wherein arrangement of 12 fuel rods is possible. The four water rods having a large diameter are so arranged adjacently in a circle as to form an internal between each other. First coolant flow path which is extended toward axial direction is formed by surrounded with the water rods having a large diameter. The first coolant flow path leads to third coolant flow path which is formed around the fuel rods through second coolant flow path which is the interval between the water rods having a large diameter. The fuel assembly is able to optimize the moderator to fuel atom number density ratio and to reduce the pressure loss because a portion to be an excessively moderated region is utilized as the first coolant flow path.

Fuel assembly and upper tie plate thereof

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Hitachi, Japan

Taro Ueki