Westinghouse Electric Company LLC

Westinghouse Electric Corporation

William A Byers

John Lojek, Iii

Matthew M Swartz

William G Clark, Jr

Gerald L Carlson

Warren R Junker

Richard J Jacko

Arash Parsi

David F Pensenstadler

Guoqiang Wang

Kevin A Harding

Edward Jean Lahoda

James C Bellows

David C Grant

George P Sabol

William M Hickam

David F McLaughlin

Thomas V Congedo

William M Alvino

Steven H Peterson

Zeses E Karoutas

Robert D Burack

Arnold H Fero

Jason P Mazzoccoli

Abdul R Dulloo

Frank H Ruddy

Brandon Damon Thomas

Dmitry V Paramonov

John M Iacovino, Jr

Warren E Snider

David M Gross

John J Herald

Milorad B Dzodzo

Rajender Kumar Sadhir

Gene J Zottola

Richard D Reid

James A Begley

Edward J Silva

Michael Y Young

Michael J Wootten

James E Richards

Deborah J Buckley

Gregory A Kustra

Stephen J Harding

John G Siedel

Rachel L Devito

Joseph W Kormuth

John Lojek Iii

A forming assembly for forming a wick is disclosed. The forming assembly includes a tube inflatable to an inflated configuration. A wick mesh is configured to be wrapped about the tube. The forming assembly further includes a sheath positionable about the tube and the wick mesh. The tube and the sheath are configured to compress the wick mesh and form the wick based on the tube inflating towards the inflated configuration.

Internal hydroforming method for manufacturing heat pipe wicks utilizing a hollow mandrel and sheath

A method of sampling a multi-layered material and a micro-sampling tool are described. The sampling method includes penetrating a top surface of a material in a component of interest with a micro-cutting tool to a predetermined depth sufficient to include each layer of the multi-layered material and a portion of the base, without cutting through the full depth of the base, under-cutting from the depth of penetration through the base to define a micro-sample of the multi-layered material, and removing the micro-sample with each layer of the multi-layered material intact. The micro-sampler includes a cutting tool calibrated to cut to a depth no greater than 2 mm, and in some aspects, no greater than 200 microns into a multi-layered material, the material having a top surface and a metallic or ceramic base and a container for removing and storing a micro-sample cut from the material with each layer of the multi-layered material and a portion of the base intact.

Minimally invasive microsampler for intact removal of surface deposits and substrates

Disclosed are a voltage drop measurement system and methods for measuring resistivity of a nuclear reactor cladding. The system includes a short cladding sample of a nuclear reactor cladding. Two electrically conductive plugs are attached to the short cladding. A power supply is electrically coupled to the each of the two electrically conductive plugs and is configured to apply an electrical current to the short cladding through the two electrically conductive plugs. Two needle like probes are electrically coupled to a surface of the short cladding between the two electrically conductive plugs. The needle like probes are spaced apart by a distance L. Resistivity and heat flux are determined in accordance with Equations (1)-(4).

System and method for local resistivity measurement and critical heat flux calculation for nuclear reactor cladding tubing

A forming assembly configured to form a wick is disclosed. The forming assembly includes an expandable tube and a forming shell assembly. The expandable tube is hydraulically expandable to an expanded configuration. A wick mesh is configured to be wrapped about the expandable tube. The forming shell assembly includes a first forming shell comprising a first recess defined therein and a second forming shell comprising a second recess defined therein. The first recess and the second recess cooperate to define an outer diameter of the wick. The expandable tube and the wick mesh are positionable between the first recess and the second recess. The expandable tube and the forming shell assembly are configured to deform the wick mesh and form the wick based on the expandable tube hydraulically expanding towards the expanded configuration.

Internal hydroforming method for manufacturing heat pipe wicks

A heat pipe is disclosed includes a container, a container lid including a groove defined therein, a wick, and an end plug operably coupled to the wick. The end plug includes a pin extending therefrom. The groove of the container lid is configured to receive the pin.

Method of installing a heat pipe wick into a container of differing thermal expansion coefficient

A Gland Seal End Plug closure for a nuclear fuel rod cladding composed of silicon carbide or other materials that cannot be welded. The sealant is, preferably, made from one or more forms of pure graphite and the ram, seat and other components of the Gland Seal End Plug are formed from high temperature metallic or ceramic materials.

Nuclear fuel rod

The present invention relates to a pre-core hot functional testing (HFT) preconditioning process, which includes the introduction of chemical additives, e.g., zinc, into coolant water that circulates through the primary system of a new nuclear power plant, at various temperatures. The chemical additives contact the primary system surfaces, which results in the formation of a protective zinc-containing oxide film on the fresh surfaces to control corrosion release and deposition during subsequent normal operation of the nuclear power plant. The method includes a series of three chemistry phases to optimize the passivation process: 1) an alkaline-reducing phase, 2) an acid-reducing phase and 3) an acid-oxidizing phase.

Chemical process for primary system material passivation during hot functional testing of nuclear power plants

The invention is a film-riding seal for a pump shaft that is resistant to the deposition of iron oxides such as hematite and goethite on the confronting, spaced apart, seal surfaces. The seal generally comprises a ceramic runner mounted on the pump shaft and an adjacent ceramic stationary sealing ring. The runner has a sealing surface and the stationary sealing ring has sealing surface confronting the runner sealing surface. The ceramic sealing surfaces include a catalyst selected from the group consisting of rhenium, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, osmium, iridium, platinum, gold and mixtures thereof.

Film riding shaft seal

A reactor coolant system of a pressurized water nuclear reactor with fuel assemblies in the core is simultaneously shutdown and decontaminated in less than 90 hours after the shutdown is initiated. A LOMI or Can-Derem decontamination reagent is added to reactor coolant to reduce iron and nickel in oxidized coatings before removing dissolved hydrogen and reducing the gamma emitting activity of the reactor coolant.

Pressurized water reactor shutdown method

A crud-resistant nuclear fuel element cladding in which the axial locations that experience nucleate boiling during reactor full power operation are highly polished so that the maximum size of any surface defect on the highly polished surface is approximately 0.1 microns. The remainder of the cladding surface remains unpolished so that crud is more evenly redistributed over the entire fuel cladding surface to limit the thickness of the crud that is formed to less than 35 microns.

Crud-resistant nuclear fuel cladding

Detectors are used to monitor the status of spent nuclear fuel storage containers non-invasively while they remain in storage casks. The detectors measure neutron flux and &ggr;-ray flux and may also measure temperature variations of the spent nuclear fuel. The measurements can be accomplished actively or passively, with minimal exposure of individuals to radiation fields or other hazardous conditions. Preferred neutron and &ggr;-ray detectors have a semiconductor active region that is resistant to neutron damage. Incipient structural failures may also be detected using measurements based on electrical continuity, with data being transmitted to an external pickup coil.

In-situ self-powered monitoring of stored spent nuclear fuel

A method of magnetically fabricating a particle filled polymer having improved mechanical, electrical, or thermal surface characteristics. Finely divided ferrite particles are first mixed into a hardenable, liquid polymeric material. Next, the particles are magnetically oriented within the material along a selected pattern characterized by a gradient of increasing particle density toward a surface of the material. The polymeric material is then cured into a hardened state in order to affix the pattern of particles therein. The particles may be coated with a hardening material, such as diamond, and attracted to the surface of the material in order to impart desired wear and erosion resistance to the resulting composite. Alternatively, the particles may be coated with a electrically or thermally conducting material, such as silver, and magnetically pulled into intimate contact with one another to impart a high level of electrical or thermal conductivity to the resulting composite. The large particulate surface area provided by the magnetically obtained particle contact allows high levels of electrical or thermal conductivity to be obtained with the mixing of only small amounts of particulate matter to the polymer.

Method of magnetically forming a particle filled polymer having enhanced

A borated aqueous solution from a nuclear reactor coolant system dilute chemical-decontamination process or from an equipment washing process which has been contaminated with radioactive metals or heavy metals including cobalt, nickel, chromium, iron, manganese, lead or mercury and with a chelating agent, detergent or soap is treated with an oxidizing agent to oxidize the chelating agent, detergent or soap and to precipitate the contaminant metals. The contaminant metals are then separated from the solution by centrifugal filtration, micromembrane belt filtration or magnetic separation. Advantageously, a very small volume of precipitate may then be buried and the decontaminated solution may be recycled or further treated and released for other uses.

Method of treating a contaminated aqueous solution

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Murrysville, PA, United States of America

William A Byers