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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7272204 | Method and apparatus for clamping a riser brace assembly in nuclear reactor An apparatus and method are provided which are designed to structurally replace welds that attach a riser brace assembly to a jet pump riser pipe. The riser brace assembly may include an upper clamp assembly, a lower clamp assembly, and a plurality of mechanical fas... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7195398 | Two-component bearing shell for an injection-molded ball-and-socket joint The present invention pertains to a bearing shell for a ball-and-socket joint, wherein the bearing shell has a core component consisting of a first material, which is completely enclosed by a jacket component consisting of a second material. ... | 03/27/2007 |
| 7120219 | Reactor pressure vessel A reactor pressure vessel supports the flanges of a core barrel assembly and an upper support plate. These flanges have aligned holes for diverting inlet coolant water to the vessel head for cooling the head. The aligned holes have different cross-sectional areas fo... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7023949 | Jet pump assembly repair method A BWR jet pump assembly has a wedge slidably mounted on a jet pump that is movable under the force of gravity to seat between a bracket and the jet pump in order to horizontally support the jet pump against vibrations. The wedge or the bracket is repaired in situ by... | 04/04/2006 |
| 6997141 | Anti-vibration support for steam generator heat transfer tubes and method for making same A tube support structure for heat transfer tubes in a steam generator has a plurality of tube support bars which are installed between the heat transfer tubes. At least one of the support bars has a first metal layer and a second metal layer. The first metal layer i... | 02/14/2006 |
| 6839396 | Control device for a cooling circuit Control device for a cooling circuit which enables a pressure tank of a reactor to be cooled even when a serious failure occurs, without having to resort to the use of external energy. One or more rods is disposed below a bottom cap of the reactor pressure tank. Eac... | 01/04/2005 |
| 6788756 | Jet pump set screw wedge A piping support wedge apparatus for a jet pump in a nuclear reactor is provided. In an exemplary embodiment, the wedge apparatus includes a first tapered wedge segment having a first end portion and a second end portion and a second tapered wedge segment having a f... | 09/07/2004 |
| 6744842 | Fuel assembly for a pressurized-water reactor A fuel assembly for a pressurized-water reactor includes fuel rods held in cells of spacers, control rod guide tubes, and a headpiece and a foot piece, by which it is fixed to upper and lower core grids, respectively. A spacer having a first part, which lies on a ra... | 06/01/2004 |
| 6738447 | High energy absorption top nozzle for a nuclear fuel assembly A high energy absorption top nozzle for a nuclear fuel assembly that employs an elongated upper tubular housing and an elongated lower tubular housing slidable within the upper tubular housing. The upper and lower housings are biased away from each other by a plural... | 05/18/2004 |
| 6647083 | Method and apparatus for stiffening a riser brace in nuclear reactor A vibration mitigation clamp apparatus is provided, which is designed to stiffen a riser brace assembly in a nuclear reactor so as to increase the natural vibration frequency of the riser brace assembly. In an embodiment, the vibration mitigation clamp ap... | 11/11/2003 |
| 6570950 | Nuclear plant containment with prefabricated component support structure A nuclear steam supply containment system employing prefabricated component supports that are surrounded by steel concrete forms and anchored to the floor liner of a nuclear containment. The prefabricated component supports extend through the concrete for... | 05/27/2003 |
| 6567493 | Core spray sparger assembly A core spray sparger assembly for supplying coolant to a nuclear reactor. The nuclear reactor includes fuel assemblies, a top guide, coolant supply pipes and a shroud head. The core spray sparger assembly includes at least one coolant manifold, at least o... | 05/20/2003 |
| 6463114 | Jack screw gap replacement device A jacking device includes first, second, and third members (51, 52, 53), and a jacking screw (55). The first and second members (51, 52) have sloping side portions (57). The third member (53) has a plurality of sloped side portions (57) and a threaded ope... | 10/08/2002 |
| 6370214 | Radiation induced growth indication apparatus for pressurized water reactor nuclear fuel assemblies Apparatus for the determination of radiation induced growth due to burnup of a nuclear reactor fuel assembly in a reactor core.... | 04/09/2002 |
| 6351511 | Local repair of top guide in boiling water reactor by installation of cruciform beam An apparatus for reinforcing weakened portions of the top guide assembly in a boiling water reactor. The repair apparatus includes a cruciform lattice segment which reinforces the damaged or weakened region of the top guide beam lattice. This cruciform la... | 02/26/2002 |
| 6233300 | Conical shaped seismic guide pins and mating openings A top guide to shroud head interface is described. In one embodiment, the interface includes a top guide that includes a flange that is configured to engage a corresponding flange of the shroud head. The top guide flange includes a plurality of frusto-con... | 05/15/2001 |
| 6185269 | Liquid metal reactor power block A seismically isolated liquid metal reactor power block is described. In one embodiment, the liquid metal reactor power block is a substantially rectangular nuclear plant with two nuclear islands and a common liquid metal service facility commonly support... | 02/06/2001 |
| 6160864 | Seismic isolators A seismic load suppressing system for a nuclear reactor that reduces the seismic input to the reactor and the internal components of the reactor including the fuel is described. The seismic load suppressing system includes, in one embodiment, a plurality ... | 12/12/2000 |
| 6091791 | Shroud attachment for a boiling water reactor A shroud attachment assembly which provides both structural support for the shroud and a seal between the shroud and shroud support is described. In one specific embodiment, the shroud attachment assembly includes a shroud flange formed integral with the ... | 07/18/2000 |
| 6052425 | Jet pump auxiliary wedge An auxiliary wedge apparatus configured to couple to the restrainer bracket of a jet pump assembly is described. In one embodiment, the auxiliary wedge apparatus includes a support block configured to couple to the restrainer bracket, and a wedge configur... | 04/18/2000 |
| 5946367 | Reactor control rod element A neutron absorbing pin including at least, a neutron absorber, a thin-wall pipe surrounding the neutron absorber, and a cladding disposed at a distance from the thin-wall pipe. In the neutron absorbing pin, the difference between the coefficient of therm... | 08/31/1999 |
| 5930320 | Assemblies and methods for mitigating effects of reactor pressure vessel expansion Support assemblies for allowing RPV radial expansion while simultaneously limiting horizontal, vertical, and azimuthal movement of the RPV within a nuclear reactor are described. In one embodiment, the support assembly includes a support block and a guide... | 07/27/1999 |
| 5889830 | Cooling system for cooling a containment chamber constructed for receiving a core melt A nuclear power plant has a reactor core and a containment chamber for receiving core melt of the reactor core. A cooling system for cooling the containment chamber includes a flooding container to be filled with coolant fluid. A cooling pipe leads from t... | 03/30/1999 |
| 5883931 | Control rod for a nuclear reactor having mounting structures for replacing/rearranging/inverting absorber tubes A control rod includes four panels in cruciform section each containing a plurality of absorber tubes. The absorber tubes are mounted between upper and lower mounting structures having generally T-shaped slots opening toward one another. The absorber tube... | 03/16/1999 |
| 5838751 | Core plate repair using guide tube gap wedges A method and an apparatus for repairing a core plate having a cracked support structure. The method entails the step of providing a vertical compression load path between the core plate and one or more control rod guide tubes. This is accomplished by inst... | 11/17/1998 |
| 5815543 | Seismic support with clearance gap and yieldable member In a nuclear reactor including a reactor vessel and a core shroud disposed within the reactor vessel in laterally spaced relation, a seismic support includes a spacer extending between laterally opposed surfaces of the reactor vessel and the core shroud t... | 09/29/1998 |
| 5793828 | Method and apparatus for repair of nuclear reactor shroud In order to support a shroud against bending, shear, stress and torsion, straps are placed in strategic positions with respect to cracks or like types of weaknesses which have been detected, and fastened in place using a suitable fastening technique. Hole... | 08/11/1998 |
| 5754612 | Joint for interfacing steel head closure and prestressed concrete reactor vessel A joint for interfacing a steel head closure and a steel-lined prestressed concrete reactor vessel (PCRV). The steel head closure is bolted to a thick steel annular plate and a thermal barrier is arranged in a volume bounded by the head ring, the liner an... | 05/19/1998 |
| 5742653 | Vertical and lateral restraint stabilizer for core shroud of boiling water reactor An apparatus for stabilizing a shroud against vertical and lateral deflection. The apparatus forms a vertical load path by which the shroud flange can be anchored to the shroud support plate. In the tensioned state, an upper support assembly exerts a rest... | 04/21/1998 |
| 5740216 | Vertical seismic isolation structure of common deck system for nuclear reactor components A vertical seismic isolation structure is capable of achieving vertical seismic isolation of nuclear reactor components connected to each other by primary pipings, while suppressing the relative displacement with respect to the primary pipings. A nuclear ... | 04/14/1998 |
| 5706320 | Containment pressure suppression system for liquid metal cooled reactors A pressure suppressing and aerosol scrubbing system configured to be located between low pressure upper containments associated with modular reactor vessels is described. In one embodiment, the pressure suppression and scrubbing system includes a water ta... | 01/06/1998 |
| 5683216 | Spring latching mechanisms for preventing relative movement of assembled components Spring latching mechanisms for preventing relative rotation or relative displacement of assembled components during operation of a nuclear reactor. The first type of mechanism prevents rotation of a threaded fastener which fastens a first component to a s... | 11/04/1997 |
| 5651334 | Steam generator lateral support A steam generator originally having hydraulic snubbers damping lateral thermal movement of the steam generator is backfit to laterally support the steam generator without hydraulic damping. Hydraulic fluid is emptied from piston cylinders of all snubbers ... | 07/29/1997 |
| 5642955 | Strongback for remotely installing tie rod assembly in annulus below core spray piping in boiling water reactor A strongback for lowering a tie rod into the downcomer annulus of a boiling water reactor during a shroud repair operation. The tie rod strongback is suspended from a cable via a cable adaptor at its upper end. The lower end of the strongback is coupled t... | 07/01/1997 |
| 5640434 | Miniaturized nuclear reactor utilizing improved pressure tube structural members The present invention relates to a miniaturized nuclear utilizing improved pressure tube structural members. More particularly, the present invention relates to a new miniaturized nuclear reactor utilizing novel structural members that are used to support... | 06/17/1997 |
| 5621778 | Shroud restraint stabilizer A method and an apparatus for stabilizing a shroud against lateral deflection. The shroud restraint stabilizer has springs which exert radially inwardly directed forces that resist lateral deflection of the shroud relative to the reactor pressure vessel. ... | 04/15/1997 |
| 5617457 | Pressurized-water reactor with individually adapted pressure distribution in the coolant A pressure vessel of a pressurized-water reactor has an upper part in which coolant is collected in a plenum. The coolant enters the plenum through a grid plate on which tops of the fuel assemblies are supported and the coolant is removed from the plenum ... | 04/01/1997 |
| 5610962 | Construction of nuclear power plants on deep rock overlain by weak soil deposits A nuclear power generation complex constructed on a stratum of rock overlain by soil deposits. All major structures in the power generation complex (i.e., reactor, turbine, radwaste and control buildings) are located on a common mat foundation that houses... | 03/11/1997 |
| 5600689 | Method and apparatus for repairing boiling water reactor shrouds utilizing tie-rods with multiple longitudinal members A method and apparatus for repairing nuclear reactor core shrouds includes applying vertical compressive forces to the shroud in situ to urge opposed ends of the shroud toward one another using a plurality of tie-rods, each including a plurality of coaxia... | 02/04/1997 |
| 5600690 | Method and apparatus for repairing boiling water reactor shrouds utilizing tie-rods and braces A method and apparatus for repairing nuclear reactor core shrouds having horizontal cracks in heat affected zones of welds joining a horizontal plate to upper and lower cylindrical sections of the shroud includes securing a plurality of braces between an ... | 02/04/1997 |
