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:
Apr. 03, 2007
Filed:
Dec. 23, 2002
David Joseph Kropaczek, Kure Beach, NC (US);
William Earl Russell, Iii, Wilmington, NC (US);
Steven Barry Sutton, Wilmington, NC (US);
Christian Carlos Oyarzun, Wrightsville Beach, NC (US);
William Charles Cline, Wilmington, NC (US);
David Joseph Kropaczek, Kure Beach, NC (US);
William Earl Russell, III, Wilmington, NC (US);
Steven Barry Sutton, Wilmington, NC (US);
Christian Carlos Oyarzun, Wrightsville Beach, NC (US);
William Charles Cline, Wilmington, NC (US);
Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas, LLC, Wilmington, NC (US);
Abstract
In the method, a set of limits are defined and a reference core design is generated based on the limits, and includes an initial loading pattern of current fresh fuel bundles arranged in a plurality of fuel locations. A unique subset of fresh fuel bundles is selected for evaluation as the reference core design is subjected to an iterative improvement process. The iterative process includes replacing, at each fuel location, at least one of the current fresh fuel bundles with at least one of the selected fresh fuel bundles, and simulating reactor operation on the reference core design to obtain a plurality of outputs. The outputs may be ranked based on the defined set of limits, and the highest ranked output may be selected as an accepted core design for the nuclear reactor.