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:
Mar. 11, 1997
Filed:
Dec. 27, 1994
Mark W Fecteau, Export, PA (US);
James W Miller, Murrysville, PA (US);
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Abstract
A replacement rod for insertion into a nuclear fuel assembly to replace a fuel rod containing a neutron absorbing, fissile fuel, includes Hafnium sufficient to substantially replace the neutron absorption capacity of the fuel rod. The replacement rod also includes a non-fissile second material that is commonly used for structures in nuclear fuel assemblies. The second material is preferably selected from the group consisting of a stainless steel, a zirconium alloy and zirconium. In one embodiment, the Hafnium is fabricated into a cylindrically-shaped rodlet, or core, and the second material is fabricated into an annulus around the core. Alternatively, the Hafnium and the second material are each distributed about uniformly throughout a cylindrical volume of the replacement rod. Refurbishing nuclear fuel assemblies by replacing damaged fuel rods with replacement rods according to the invention obtains an improved peaking factor over prior art methods.