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"I hate what they've done to my child...I would never let my own children watch it. "
Vladimir Zworykin, television pioneer ; Talking about an invention in which he played a critical role.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8126106 | Method and system for providing fuel in a nuclear reactor Exemplary embodiments provide automated nuclear fission reactors and methods for their operation. Exemplary embodiments and aspects include, without limitation, re-use of nuclear fission fuel, alternate fuels and fuel geometries, modular fuel cores, fast fluid cooli... | 02/28/2012 |
| 7912171 | Method and system for providing fuel in a nuclear reactor Exemplary embodiments provide automated nuclear fission reactors and methods for their operation. Exemplary embodiments and aspects include, without limitation, re-use of nuclear fission fuel, alternate fuels and fuel geometries, modular fuel cores, fast fluid cooli... | 03/22/2011 |
| 7860207 | Method and system for providing fuel in a nuclear reactor Exemplary embodiments provide automated nuclear fission reactors and methods for their operation. Exemplary embodiments and aspects include, without limitation, re-use of nuclear fission fuel, alternate fuels and fuel geometries, modular fuel cores, fast fluid cooli... | 12/28/2010 |
| 7593501 | Segment make-up system and method for manufacturing nuclear fuel rods A method to insert nuclear fuel pellets into a fuel rod cladding tube, having the steps of providing a cladding tube, providing at least one nuclear fuel pellet to be incorporated into the cladding tube, measuring a length of the at least one nuclear fuel pellet wit... | 09/22/2009 |
| 7551705 | Fuel assembly top nozzle repair sleeve and method for repairing a fuel assembly A method and device to repair nuclear fuel assembly structural defects in the top nozzle to guide thimble connection, wherein the device includes a repair sleeve comprising tendons configured to deflect to allow establishment of a structural connection between a pro... | 06/23/2009 |
| 7539280 | Nuclear fuel rod loading method and apparatus A method to load a nuclear fuel rod, comprising, providing nuclear fuel pellets in a fuel plate transfer unit; transferring the nuclear fuel pellets from the fuel plate transfer unit to a fuel pellet column through the use of a belt, indexing the nuclear fuel pellet... | 05/26/2009 |
| 7424084 | Fuel assembly nozzleless handling tool and method A device and method to move a fuel assembly of a nuclear reactor, wherein the device eliminates the potential for dropping the fuel assembly due to stress corrosion cracking of the upper guide thimble sleeves that attach the top nozzle to guide thimbles. ... | 09/09/2008 |
| 7397884 | Aligning device for fuel elements of a pressurized water reactor An aligning device for fuel elements allows fuel elements of a pressurized water reactor to be aligned in a comparatively easy and quick manner. To this end, the aligning device for fuel elements includes an aligning body, which extends in a longitudinal direction a... | 07/08/2008 |
| 7386087 | Method and device for loading a fuel assembly into the core of a nuclear reactor The invention relates to a method and a device for loading a fuel assembly into the core of a nuclear reactor. The inventive method consists in: inserting a dummy assembly (4) into the loading location (3) of the fuel assembly (5), said dummy as... | 06/10/2008 |
| 7363817 | System and technique for detecting the presence of foreign material Systems and techniques for detecting the presence of foreign material in food utilizing optical backlighting and/or ultrasonic inspection are presented. In optical backlighting, a substantially monochromatic light source optically backlights a food stream with sourc... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7349518 | Boiling water reactor core and fuel assemblies therefor A ratio of the number of fuel assemblies loaded on a core to the number of control rod drive mechanisms is 3 or more. The fuel assembly itself contains mixed oxides of a low enrichment concentration uranium oxide containing 3 to 8 wt % in the average enrichment conc... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7332689 | Tacking method and apparatus An apparatus for tacking a multi-lumen tubular assembly together comprises a laser, an optical member and a placement tray for retaining the tubular assembly. A portion of the optical member defines a window that is substantially transparent to laser energy emitted ... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7314343 | Miniature manipulator for servicing the interior of nuclear steam generator tubes A manipulator for servicing tubes extending through a tube sheet having three major components: a base member, a block member, and a foot member. The base member has a holder for supporting tooling or inspection devices. The base member also has at least one gripper... | 01/01/2008 |
| 7239683 | Fuel assembly nozzleless handling tool and method A device and method to move a fuel assembly of a nuclear reactor, wherein the device eliminates the potential for dropping the fuel assembly due to stress corrosion cracking of the upper guide thimble sleeves that attach the top nozzle to guide thimbles. ... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7224761 | Method and algorithm for searching and optimizing nuclear reactor core loading patterns A method is for establishing a nuclear reactor core loading pattern (LP) for fuel assemblies and burnable absorbers (BAs). The method establishes an optimum LP through the steps of: a) providing nuclear data representing fuel assemblies and BAs in a nuclear reactor ... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7209802 | Method for controlling a robot A method for controlling a robot wherein a procedure is carried out with the robot while maintaining the robot immobile in axes that are not required to carry out the procedure. ... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7187744 | Method of providing a nuclear fuel and a fuel element provided by such a method A method for providing a nuclear fuel includes forming a uranium-molybdenum alloy that provides an enhanced reactivity in research, test and radioisotope production nuclear reactors. In this uranium-molybdenum alloy, the uranium is enriched in the isotope 235-U, whi... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7149272 | Filter for cooling water in a light water cooled nuclear reactor The invention refers to a filter (1) for separating particle from cooling water in a nuclear plant, and a fuel assembly with such a filter. The filter has an inlet end (2) and an outlet end (3) and permits through-flow of the cooling water in a ... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7139353 | Boiling water reactor nuclear fuel assembly lifting support A lifting support for a boiling water reactor nuclear fuel assembly comprising a grappling head configured to allow attachment to a lifting device, a body with an upper end and a lower end, the upper end connected to the grappling head, the body configured to be ins... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7139360 | Use of boron or enriched boron 10 in UO The present invention provides a nuclear fuel assembly, where a boron-containing compound is used as a burnable poison and is distributed in a majority of the rods in the assembly. The assembly comprises a plurality of fuel rods, each fuel rod containing a plurality... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7102741 | Printing/inspection unit, method and apparatus for printing and/or inspecting and accepting/removing specified pellet-shaped articles from a conveyer mechanism A pellet-shaped article inspection unit is structured for use with a conveyer mechanism having a plurality of carrier bars, each carrier bar being structured to convey a plurality of pellet-shaped articles along a predetermined path. The article inspection unit incl... | 09/05/2006 |
| 7093622 | Apparatus for deforming resilient contact structures on semiconductor components A method for testing and burning-in semiconductor components such as semiconductor dice on a semiconductor wafer, is provided. The method includes the step of providing all of the components on the wafer with resilient contact structures, such as metal pins having i... | 08/22/2006 |
| 7070717 | MOX fuel fabrication process from weapon plutonium feed Process for fabrication MOX fuel from weapon originating plutonium oxide (W—PuO2), including a process for fabricating MOX fuel pellets, a dry processing of W—PuO2 powder, and a dry processing of MOX fabrication scrap. ... | 07/04/2006 |
| 7052736 | Method for depositing coatings on the interior surfaces of tubular structures A method is disclosed for substantially uniformly coating an interior surface of a ferromagnetic tubular structure such as a ferromagnetic tube having a high aspect ratio. The method entails inducing a magnetic field of a given magnitude within the tubular structure... | 05/30/2006 |
| 6992771 | Systems and techniques for detecting the presence of foreign material Systems and techniques for detecting the presence of foreign material in food utilizing optical backlighting and/or ultrasonic inspection are presented. In optical backlighting, a substantially monochromatic light source optically backlights a food stream with sourc... | 01/31/2006 |
| 6980620 | Device for positioning and axially aligning a fuel assembly and process and apparatus for restoring a positioning element The apparatus for positioning a fuel assembly (10) comprises, on a respective side of the core support plate (19) and the upper core plate (9) directed towards an endpiece (15, 14) of the fuel assembly (10) at least two projecting ... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6971213 | Method for the separate rejection of defective items, in particular strip packages, during transferring from a packaging line to a conveying line A method for the rejection of single defective items, in particular strip packages, during transferring from a packaging line to a conveying line, includes a preliminary check of the integrity of each product present on the packaging line and the subsequent removabl... | 12/06/2005 |
| 6909765 | Method of uprating an existing nuclear power plant An improved method of increasing the power output of an existing nuclear power plant includes increasing the thermal power output of the plant's nuclear island and constructing of an auxiliary BOP to handle the increased thermal power. The thermal power of the nucle... | 06/21/2005 |
| 6895066 | Measuring head and measuring assembly for a nuclear fuel rod A measuring head is used in measuring an assembly part of a nuclear facility, such as a fuel rod, a fuel assembly box, or a spacer of the fuel assembly. The measuring head is capable of augmenting a comparatively large data base representing the overall aging state ... | 05/17/2005 |
| 6895067 | Smooth collet for pulling fuel rods A method and apparatus is disclosed for smoothly inserting a fuel rod loader through the skeleton of a fuel cell and then for pulling an attached fuel rod into the fuel rod skeleton while keeping the fuel rod under constant tension and preventing the bowing of the f... | 05/17/2005 |
| 6879653 | Method and device for measuring the diameter of a peripheral rod in a fuel assembly of a nuclear reactor The diameter of a segment of a peripheral rod in a fuel assembly is measured between two successive spacer grids. A measuring tool is positioned at a level situated between the two successive spacer grids, the tool comprising two measuring fingers that are free to m... | 04/12/2005 |
| 6856663 | Reactor servicing platform A reactor servicing platform for a nuclear reactor is provided. The nuclear reactor includes a reactor pressure vessel positioned in a primary containment and at least one refuel bridge. The primary containment includes a refueling floor. The servicing platform, in ... | 02/15/2005 |
| 6856664 | Reactor servicing platform A modular reactor servicing platform for a nuclear reactor is provided. The modular servicing platform includes a plurality of modular sections coupled together, a support structure coupled to the coupled together modular sections, a center access opening, and a ref... | 02/15/2005 |
| 6853697 | Hermetically sealable transfer cask An apparatus, transfer cask, system, and method for defueling a nuclear reactor and transferring spent nuclear fuel from a spent nuclear fuel to a storage cask for long terms storage. In one aspect, the invention is an apparatus for use in transferring a canister of... | 02/08/2005 |
| 6811746 | Zirconium alloy having excellent corrosion resistance and mechanical properties for nuclear fuel cladding tube The present invention relates to a zirconium alloy having excellent corrosion resistance and mechanical properties and a method for preparing a nuclear fuel cladding tube by zirconium alloy. More particulary, the present invention is directed to a zirconium alloy co... | 11/02/2004 |
| 6785355 | Method and system for manufacturing storage container for storing nuclear fuel A method for storing nuclear fuel in a container (10) including a concrete body and a fuel receiver embedded in the concrete body, comprises the steps of: providing formwork (62) for the concrete body and supporting the fuel receiver within the formwor... | 08/31/2004 |
| 6697448 | Neutronic fuel element fabrication This disclosure describes a method for metallurgically bonding a complete leak-tight enclosure to a matrix-type fuel element penetrated longitudinally by a multiplicity of coolant channels. Coolant tubes containing solid filler pins are disposed in the co... | 02/24/2004 |
| 6674828 | Safe lift and process for transporting canisters of spent nuclear fuel A system and method for moving a canister of spent nuclear fuel from a first location, which may be within a nuclear power generation facility to a second location such as a storage cask that is used for short-term or long-term storage of spent nuclear fu... | 01/06/2004 |
| 6668034 | Method of inspecting an operation of sealed closure by welding the end of a filling channel traversing the upper plug of a nuclear fuel rod A method of inspecting an operation of sealed closure by welding an end opening of a filling channel axially traversing an upper plug for closing the cladding of a fuel rod for a nuclear reactor, the cladding of the rod containing a plurality of pellets o... | 12/23/2003 |
| 6665365 | Storage container for radioactive materials The basket comprises a bundle of tubes (10) connected to each other by an assembly structure (14) so as to form a regular network of compartments (16). Cross pieces (12) are placed between the tubes (10) so as to define a second wall approximately continu... | 12/16/2003 |
