The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 06, 1996
Filed:
Sep. 20, 1994
Hsueh-Wen Pao, Saratoga, CA (US);
David L Faulstich, San Jose, CA (US);
Dane T Snyder, Byron, CA (US);
Johnny T Ma, San Jose, CA (US);
Kenneth R Izzo, Los Gatos, CA (US);
Joel C Swanson, Livermore, CA (US);
Martin S Laurent, San Jose, CA (US);
Peter F Kachel, Livermore, CA (US);
General Electric Company, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A process and a system for detecting defective nuclear fuel assemblies in situ. The system includes two basic subsystems. The first subsystem is a sample collection system consisting of a hood placed over the fuel. A technique whereby a vacuum is drawn across a submerged nozzle of a degas tank is used to draw up the sample of fluid out of a fuel assembly. The second subsystem determines the amount of Kr-85 radioisotope contained in the fluid sample. This information is used to determine whether the fuel assembly contains a defective, i.e., leaking, fuel rod. The measurement values for Kr-85 in the fluid sample extracted from the fuel assembly are compared to the measurement values for Kr-85 in fluid samples taken from the reactor pool prior to fuel assembly testing and fluid samples taken from non-leaking control cells, the latter values representing the background to which the subject fuel assembly is compared. Based on this comparison, a determination is made concerning whether the subject fuel assembly is defective.