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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 5563808 | Pilger mill mandrel measuring device A method and an apparatus for measuring a tapered cylindrical object, such as a mandrel. The apparatus employs a linear positioning table assembly with a slide mounting for a laser micrometer, an axial position stepper motor for moving the laser micromete... | 10/08/1996 |
| 5446774 | Spud finger gauge A tool for checking the required spacing between adjacent fingers of the spud in a control rod drive. The tool is a GO-NO-GO gauge with tight tolerance. The spud finger gauge has two circular cylindrical pins of different diameter. One pin (i.e., the GO p... | 08/29/1995 |
| 5440600 | Laminated electromagnetic pump stator core A stator core for an electromagnetic pump includes a plurality of circumferentially abutting tapered laminations extending radially outwardly from a centerline axis to collectively define a radially inner bore and a radially outer circumference. Each of t... | 08/08/1995 |
| 5440598 | Fuel bundle design for enhanced usage of plutonium fuel A nuclear fuel bundle includes a square array of fuel rods each having a concentration of enriched uranium and plutonium. Each rod of an interior array of the rods also has a concentration of gadolinium. The interior array of rods is surrounded by an exte... | 08/08/1995 |
| 5436946 | Spring retention of upper tie plate and fuel bundle channel in a nuclear reactor assembly Leaf-type springs are inserted into slots in an upper tie plate of a nuclear fuel assembly and bear against interior surfaces of the fuel channel to center the upper tie plate within the fuel channel. More robust similarly configured leaf springs are secu... | 07/25/1995 |
| 5426678 | Method for ultrasonic inspection of a closely packed array of fuel rods surrounded by a thin-walled metallic channel A method for ultrasonically inspecting a closely packed regular array of mutually parallel, uniformly sized and spaced rigid rods surrounded by a thin-walled metallic channel and immersed in a compressible medium. The method utilizes the properties of coh... | 06/20/1995 |
| 5420901 | Lower tie plate debris catcher for a nuclear reactor A unitary one-piece lower tie plate grid has a lower portion and an upper portion for supporting the fuel rods. The lower tie plate grid includes cylindrical boss portions arranged in square matrices for receiving the lower end plugs of the fuel rods. Web... | 05/30/1995 |
| 5420899 | Grapple for a fuel bundle channel A grapple is provided for use with a fuel bundle channel of a nuclear reactor wherein the channel is provided with a pair of gussets in opposite corners of an upper end of the channel, each gusset having a hole therein. The grapple includes a pair of leve... | 05/30/1995 |
| 5420470 | Electromagnetic pump stator frame having power crossover struts A stator frame for an electromagnetic pump includes a casing joined to a hub by a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart struts. At least one electrically insulated power crossover lead extends through the hub, through a crossover one of the struts, ... | 05/30/1995 |
| 5418824 | In situ inlet mixer cleaning system An apparatus for cleaning inlet mixers while they remain in their operating position within a nuclear reactor. A cleaning tool is inserted by remote control into the inlet mixer via a secondary inlet opening. Following insertion of the cleaning tool, the ... | 05/23/1995 |
| 5418823 | Combined ultrasonic and eddy-current method and apparatus for non-destructive testing of tubular objects to determine thickness of metallic linings or coatings A combined ultrasonic and eddy-current method and apparatus for non-destructively determining the liner thickness of a zirconium liner provided at the inner surface of a zirconium alloy nuclear fuel rod tube utilizes dimensional data acquired via conventi... | 05/23/1995 |
| 5417780 | Process for improving corrosion resistance of zirconium or zirconium alloy barrier cladding A method for fabricating a composite cladding comprised of a moderate-purity metal barrier of zirconium metallurgically bonded on the inside surface of a zirconium alloy tube which improves corrosion resistance. The improved corrosion resistance of the li... | 05/23/1995 |
| 5416812 | Optimized critical power in a fuel bundle with part length rods In a fuel bundle for use in the core of a boiling water nuclear reactor, part length rods having a tendency to reduce pressure drop are used in combination with spacers and spacer attached devices tending to utilize pressure drop to improve critical power... | 05/16/1995 |
| 5406604 | Two part tie plate adapted to D & C lattice A two part lower tie plate assembly is disclosed for use with a fuel bundle of a boiling water nuclear reactor. The two parts include a rod supporting grid section and nozzle section. Both the rod supporting grid section and the nozzle section are constru... | 04/11/1995 |
| 5406602 | Passive air cooling of liquid metal-cooled reactor with double vessel leak accommodation capability A passive and inherent shutdown heat removal method with a backup air flow path which allows decay heat removal following a postulated double vessel leak event in a liquid metal-cooled nuclear reactor. The improved reactor design incorporates the followin... | 04/11/1995 |
| 5406597 | Boiling water reactor including split control rod drives A boiling water reactor includes a pressure vessel containing a reactor core, chimney, steam separator assembly, and steam dryer assembly therein, with the vessel being filled with reactor water to a normal water level through the steam separator assembly... | 04/11/1995 |
| 5401664 | Analytical method for determining concentration of decomposition products in solvent used for solvent extraction A safe analytical technique for determining the concentration amount of dibutyl and monobutyl phosphate degradation products in the TBP-dodecane solvent used in solvent extraction processes. This method of chemical analysis eliminates the use of diazometh... | 03/28/1995 |
| 5400499 | Internal bushing removal tool A tool for removal of the internal bushings from a piston coupling of a CRD. The tool incorporates a spring-loaded and hardened collet supported on one end of a ram. The collet has a pair of arms with shoulders or projections which latch inside the intern... | 03/28/1995 |
| 5394446 | Uncoupling rod centering gauge A gauge for ensuring that the uncoupling rod of a control rod drive is properly inserted in the center hole of the spud and not in one of the outer lobes, i.e., spud flow holes, which communicate with the center hole. The uncoupling rod is inserted in the... | 02/28/1995 |
| 5392325 | Method and apparatus for local protection of piping systems from stress corrosion cracking A catalytic recombiner device for reacting two or more molecular species having dilute concentrations in fluids flowing in pipes at elevated temperatures. The species are stable in the bulk fluid, but because of a high electrochemical potential, the speci... | 02/21/1995 |
| 5392322 | Shroud repair clamp A method and an apparatus for repairing a shroud in which the top guide support ring has been subjected to stress corrosion cracking. The method involves the placement of a plurality of clamps around the outer circumference of the shroud at a plurality of... | 02/21/1995 |
| 5392320 | Core automated monitoring system An automated monitoring system and method of operation is provided for a nuclear reactor having a pressure vessel containing a reactor core for boiling water to generate steam. A plurality of monitors provide signals for respective monitoring parameters f... | 02/21/1995 |
| 5391354 | Process for gas phase conversion of diethylzinc to zinc oxide powder A vapor of diethylzinc or dimethylzinc is reacted with water vapor to form very small particles of depleted zinc oxide which are entrained in the gas flow. In accordance with one version of the method, a spray nozzle is used to mix liquid diethylzinc with... | 02/21/1995 |
| 5390221 | Debris filters with flow bypass for boiling water reactors In a boiling water nuclear reactor fuel bundle, a debris catching arrangement is disclosed for incorporation within the flow plenum up stream or below the rod supporting grid of the lower tie plate assembly. The device is preferably placed within the lowe... | 02/14/1995 |
| 5390220 | Lower tie plate strainers including helical spring strainers for boiling water reactors A debris catching arrangement is disclosed for incorporation within the flow plenum up stream or below the rod supporting grid of the lower tie plate assembly. The device is preferably placed within the lower tie plate flow plenum between the fuel bundle ... | 02/14/1995 |
| 5386444 | Fuel rod loading apparatus An apparatus for loading nuclear fuel rods through spacer grid cells of a fuel bundle includes a handle having at least one elongate clip joined thereto, and a flexible tubular sleeve joined to the clip. The clip rigidly supports the sleeve along its long... | 01/31/1995 |
| 5384814 | Lower tie plate strainers for boiling water reactors In a boiling water reactor fuel bundle, a three dimensional debris catching grid construction is placed within the flow volume defined by the lower tie plate assembly between the inlet nozzle and upper fuel rod supporting grid. A perforated plate is utili... | 01/24/1995 |
| 5379330 | Inner filter removal tool An improved tool for removing the highly contaminated inner filter from a control rod drive during a maintenance operation. The tool may also be used to install the inner filter by pushing the inner filter on and locking the spring clip onto flats of the ... | 01/03/1995 |
| 5377246 | Elliptical metal fuel/cladding barrier and related method for improving heat transfer A barrier tube of non-circular cross section is arranged in the space between the stainless steel cladding and metal fuel slugs of a liquid metal reactor. The non-circular shape of this barrier design promotes improved thermal bonding in both the cladding... | 12/27/1994 |
| 5377241 | Effluent container An effluent container has two halves which fit together to form a cylinder, open at the top, for catching residual contaminated water falling from the control rod drive (CRD) housing under the influence of gravity when the seal between the CRD housing and... | 12/27/1994 |
| 5377239 | BWR control rod handling tooling & method A tool set and a method of using those tools in combination is disclosed that are especially well adapted to the function of rearranging and/or replacing the control rods and fuel supports in a boiling water reactor. The tool set includes a grapple that i... | 12/27/1994 |
| 5377237 | Method of inspecting repaired stub tubes in boiling water nuclear reactors An ultrasonic method of inspecting repaired stub tubes in a boiling water reactor. The top and bottom ends of each stub tube are respectively welded to the corresponding control rod drive housing and to the bottom head of the reactor pressure vessel. Unde... | 12/27/1994 |
| 5377236 | Method and apparatus for measuring rod end squareness A method and apparatus measure squareness of an end of a rod relative to a longitudinal centerline axis thereof without requiring rotation of the rod. The apparatus includes a flat plate mounted substantially perpendicularly to the rod centerline axis. Th... | 12/27/1994 |
| 5375756 | Apparatus for assembling and welding final end plugs to nuclear fuel-containing cladding tubes and inspecting the welds, all on an automated basis In an automated final weld apparatus, a transporter conveys nuclear fuel-loaded cladding tubes successively to a check station to verify the presence of a plenum spring in the open end of each cladding tube, a reader station where a unique first end plug ... | 12/27/1994 |
| 5375154 | Reduced pressure drop spacer for boiling water reactor fuel bundles A spacer array is disclosed in which alternating cells are disposed at differing elevations. In a preferred octagonal spacer cell array, alternate fuel rods within the rows and columns of the fuel bundle matrix are surrounded by octagonal spacer cells at ... | 12/20/1994 |
| 5375152 | Method for preventing Co-60 contamination of cooling water circuits in nuclear reactor A method for preventing or reducing the formation of Co-60 contaminated material on the surfaces of a cooling water circuit of a nuclear reactor. The method is carried out during shutdown of the reactor. First, Co-60 contaminated material formed on the su... | 12/20/1994 |
