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...During the Civil War, the Confederacy established its own Patent Office which issued 266 patents, a third of which concerned implements of war.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 5331579 | Deterministic, probabilistic and subjective modeling system A modeling system that arranges the model in a hierarchical structure of communicating and independently executing object modules controlled by an overall supervisor. Each object represents a component or a system and includes an object controller which c... | 07/19/1994 |
| 5319972 | Ultrasonic liquid level measurement system An ultrasonic level measuring system includes a transducer mounted on the bottom of a pipe which launches acoustic pulses up through the pipe wall into the water. The pulses are reflected from the water surface and received by the transducer along with pu... | 06/14/1994 |
| 5319579 | Simulation of human performance of a process operation procedure A system for simulating human performance of a predefined procedure for operating equipment uses operator characteristics defining how human operator performance will be simulated. The operator characteristics include at least one among decision making ru... | 06/07/1994 |
| 5317941 | Slitting overwidth metal strip An overwidth slitting method slits a metal strip into two lengthwise pieces while trimming the side edges from the strip. The metal strip is placed on parallel spaced apart conveyors adjacent a slitter for conveying the strip to the slitter. The conveyors... | 06/07/1994 |
| 5317611 | Stackable truncated conical shell fuel element and an assembly thereof for a nuclear thermal engine A modular fuel assembly for a nuclear thermal engine includes a plurality of fuel elements each having a fueled, truncated conical shell and an unfueled peripheral lip at the base of the shell with radial passages there-through. The fuel elements are nest... | 05/31/1994 |
| 5311562 | Plant maintenance with predictive diagnostics An integrated information system is provided for a plant with interactive processes running in functional equipment subsets, such as a nuclear power generation plant. Sensors are operatively coupled to monitor processes and equipment in the plant, collect... | 05/10/1994 |
| 5309487 | Mitigation of steam generator tube rupture in a pressurized water reactor with passive safety systems The effects of steam generator tube ruptures in a pressurized water reactor are mitigated by reducing the pressure in the primary loop by diverting reactor coolant through the heat exchanger of a passive heat removal system immersed in the in containment ... | 05/03/1994 |
| 5308378 | Surface passification of a group IVB metal sponge regulus A zirconium sponge regulus from a Kroll reduction process is contaminated with zirconium chlorides, unreacted magnesium and magnesium chloride. The sponge regulus is vacuum distilled at a temperature of at least 800° C. and then cooled. Before opening th... | 05/03/1994 |
| 5307386 | Apparatus and method for servicing an elongated suspended pump motor in an electric power plant with limited access Elongated coolant pumps suspended under steam generators within containment in a power plant with limited access space, are removed and replaced by an elongated maintenance cart with an elongated opening along one side in which the motor is received. Roll... | 04/26/1994 |
| 5305360 | Process for decontaminating a nuclear reactor coolant system High velocity reactor coolant water in a boiling water reactor or a pressurized water reactor transports radioactive ions and particles from a nuclear reactor vessel to the balance of the reactor coolant system where they deposit on chromium (III) oxide-c... | 04/19/1994 |
| 5305357 | Low activated incore instrument Instrumentation for nuclear reactor head-mounted incore instrumentation systems fabricated of low nuclear cross section materials (i.e., zirconium or titanium). The instrumentation emits less radiation than that fabricated of conventional materials.... | 04/19/1994 |
| 5297174 | Safety system grade apparatus and method for detecting a dropped control rod and malfunctioning exit thermocouples in a pressurized water reactor A safety system grade dropped rod detection system for a pressurized water reactor (PWR) utilizes core exit thermocouples arranged in multiple trains and hot and cold leg RTDs to generate a safety system grade rod stop signal. The system generates from th... | 03/22/1994 |
| 5295170 | Nuclear reactor with passive means of adjusting the pH of post accident water A nuclear reactor has a passive system for adjusting the pH of post accident water in the containment vessel. A basic liquid is stored in the containment vessel at an elevation above the maximum post accident water level. When radiation levels in the cont... | 03/15/1994 |
| 5295120 | Hermetically sealed ultrasonic transducer system There is provided a hermetically sealed dry-coupled transducer apparatus and system adapted for improved measuring of liquid level in a pipe or vessel, or for other instrumentation applications. The transducer system is characterized by having a hermetic ... | 03/15/1994 |
| 5294310 | Surfactant recovery process Surfactants in an aqueous solution is recovered from polychlorinated biphenyls and other aromatic organic compounds contaminating the solution. An electrical current is passed through a surfactant-containing aqueous solution contaminated with a colloidal ... | 03/15/1994 |
| 5292481 | Crack propagation test specimen A crack propagation test specimen has a base metal and a clad metal. The base metal has an upper surface and a bottom surface with a hole extending from the bottom surface toward the upper surface. The cladding metal is supported on the upper surface of t... | 03/08/1994 |
| 5291913 | Fluid valve having a zirconium oxide coated valve disc A fluid valve has a valve body with a valve seat for receiving a valve disc to close the valve. The valve seat is iron or steel. The valve disc is made of zirconium and has a zirconium oxide layer on disc surface which seats against the valve seat when th... | 03/08/1994 |
| 5291533 | Cooling water distribution system A passive containment cooling system for a nuclear reactor containment vessel. Disclosed is a cooling water distribution system for introducing cooling water by gravity uniformly over the outer surface of a steel containment vessel using an interconnected... | 03/01/1994 |
| 5291530 | Enriched boron-10 boric acid control system for a nuclear reactor plant A nuclear reactor plant is provided in which the reactor coolant system contains a dissolved solution of enriched boric acid. The boron-10 to boron-11 atomic isotope ratio of the enriched boric acid solution is greater than 19.8:80.2 at the start of the r... | 03/01/1994 |
| 5278880 | Pressurizer tank upper support A pressurizer tank in a pressurized water nuclear reactor is mounted between structural walls of the reactor on a substructure of the reactor, the tank extending upwardly from the substructure. For bearing lateral loads such as seismic shocks, a girder su... | 01/11/1994 |
| 5278743 | Alkaline-permanganate process An alkaline-permanganate process for chemically decontaminating oxidized metal surfaces wetted by primary water circulating in cooling loops of nuclear reactors maintains permanganate-containing primary water at a temperature of about 90° C. and at a pH ... | 01/11/1994 |
| 5271052 | Enriched boron-10 boric acid control system for a nuclear reactor plant A nuclear reactor plant is provided in which the reactor coolant system contains a dissolved solution of enriched boric acid. The boron-10 to boron-11 atomic isotope ratio of the enriched boric acid solution is greater than 30:70 at the start of the react... | 12/14/1993 |
| 5271051 | Combined cooling and purification system for nuclear reactor spent fuel pit, refueling cavity, and refueling water storage tank The spent fuel pit of a pressured water reactor (PWR) nuclear power plant has sufficient coolant capacity that a safety rated cooling system is not required. A non-safety rated combined cooling and purification system with redundant branches selectively p... | 12/14/1993 |
| 5268944 | Nuclear reactor having a polyhedral primary shield and removable vessel insulation A nuclear reactor is provided having a generally cylindrical reactor vessel disposed within an opening in a primary shield. The opening in the primary shield is defined by a plurality of generally planar side walls forming a generally polyhedral-shaped op... | 12/07/1993 |
| 5268943 | Nuclear reactor with makeup water assist from residual heat removal system A pressurized water nuclear reactor uses its residual heat removal system to make up water in the reactor coolant circuit from an in-containment refueling water supply during staged depressurization leading up to passive emergency cooling by gravity feed ... | 12/07/1993 |
| 5267285 | Apparatus for suppressing formation of vortices in the coolant fluid of a nuclear reactor and associated method An apparatus and method are provided for suppressing the formation of vortices in circulating coolant fluid of a nuclear reactor. A vortex-suppressing plate having a plurality of openings therein is suspended within the lower plenum of a reactor vessel be... | 11/30/1993 |
| 5267281 | Heat exchanger and water tank arrangement for passive cooling system A water storage tank in the coolant water loop of a nuclear reactor contains a tubular heat exchanger. The heat exchanger has tubesheets mounted to the tank connections so that the tubesheets and tubes may be readily inspected and repaired. Preferably, th... | 11/30/1993 |
| 5263067 | Locating hot and cold-legs in a nuclear powered steam generation system A nuclear reactor steam generator includes a reactor vessel for heating water and a steam generator with a pump casing at the lowest point on the steam generator. A cold-leg pipe extends horizontally between the steam generator and the reactor vessel to r... | 11/16/1993 |
| 5263061 | Nuclear reactor control room construction A control room 10 for a nuclear plant is disclosed. In the control room, objects 12, 20, 22, 26, 30 are no less than four inches from walls 10.2. A ceiling 32 contains cooling fins 35 that extend downwards toward the floor from metal plates 34. A concrete... | 11/16/1993 |
| 5262019 | Decontamination of radioactive metals Technetium-contaminated nickel is decontaminated by electrolytically dissolving nickel having a gross beta activity of at least about 74 Bq in a sulfuric acid solution having a pH between about 0.5 and 2.0. The applied voltage is from 2.0 v/cell to 5.0 v/... | 11/16/1993 |
| 5260024 | Test specimen for evaluating crack propagation due to corrosion A test specimen for evaluating crack propagation and associated wear and corrosion on cladded piping is provided. The test specimen simulates the hairline crack conditions found on the inner cladding layer of a piping system. The test specimen is useful i... | 11/09/1993 |
| 5259008 | Staged depressurization system A nuclear reactor having a reactor vessel disposed in a containment shell is depressurized in stages using depressurizer valves coupled in fluid communication with the coolant circuit. At least one sparger submerged in the in-containment refueling water s... | 11/02/1993 |
| 5255296 | Collecting and recirculating condensate in a nuclear reactor containment An arrangement passively cools a nuclear reactor in the event of an emergency, condensing and recycling vaporized cooling water. The reactor is surrounded by a containment structure and has a storage tank for cooling liquid, such as water, vented to the c... | 10/19/1993 |
| 5253190 | Weighted temperature measurement using multiple sensors Three fast response resistance temperature sensors (A, B, C) are spaced 120 degrees apart on a circular plane normal to fluid flow in the hotleg (14) from a nuclear reactor (10). Each sensor produces a temperature signal and is assigned a weighting factor... | 10/12/1993 |
| 5253186 | Process facility monitoring method including transformation of sequential conditions into constraining conditions A system for a process facility monitors the execution of a procedure in which steps are defined with associated conditions. Each condition is one of an initial condition, sequential condition or constraining condition. While constraining conditions are c... | 10/12/1993 |
| 5251242 | Bi-metallic, self powered, fixed incore detector, and method of calibrating same The present invention is a detector assembly for a nuclear reactor which includes platinum detector segments (30-40) axially distributed end to end within a reactor assembly and vanadium detector segments (42-52) spatially congruent in the same assembly. ... | 10/05/1993 |
| 5244276 | Method and apparatus for passive contact temperature measurements An integrated temperature monitor (ITM) is placed in a protective carrier and the carrier is placed in a base. Thermally conductive adhesive is injected around the carrier. A cover is placed on the base, forming a container around the ITM. The adhesive ho... | 09/14/1993 |
| 5242515 | Zircaloy-4 alloy having uniform and nodular corrosion resistance This is an improved method of fabricating Zircaloy-4 strip. The method is of the type wherein Zircaloy-4 material is vacuum melted, forged, hot reduced, beta-annealed, quenched, hot rolled, subjected to a post-hot-roll anneal and then reduced by at least ... | 09/07/1993 |
| 5230758 | Method of producing zirlo material for light water reactor applications This is an alloy comprising, by weight percent, 0.5-2.0 niobium, 0.7-1.5 tin, 0.07-0.14 iron, and 0.03-0.14 of at least one of nickel and chromium, and at least 0.12 total of iron, nickel and chromium, and up to 220 ppm C, and the balance essentially zirc... | 07/27/1993 |
| 5229082 | Melt replenishment system for dendritic web growth A melt replenishment system for dendritic web growth having a pellet feed arrangement, which distributes equal amounts of feed material to a pair of feed tubes in communication with opposite ends of a crucible to maintain a melt pool at a constant level a... | 07/20/1993 |
