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. 04, 1998
Filed:
Nov. 06, 1995
Eckard Steinberg, Erlangen, DE;
Alwin Schaa, Duisburg, DE;
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Munich, DE;
Abstract
In order to avoid uncontrolled secondary damage to a fuel rod, in particular a fuel rod being formed of Zircaloy and having a liner on the inside, in which the secondary damage may be generated by coolant that enters the fuel rod in the event of primary damage, a nucleus is deliberately provided in a cladding tube. The nucleus, although passivated in an undamaged fuel rod and not impeding the serviceability of the fuel rod, is activated by coolant which enters the fuel rod in the event of primary damage or by hydrogen or other reaction products produced in reactions of the coolant in the interior of the fuel rod and results in a small-area perforation. This prevents an aggressive atmosphere, which may result in unintentional large-area secondary damage at other points, from accumulating in the cladding tube after primary damage.