Did You Know...
...that the video game, Pong, was invented by a guy who graduated at the bottom of his engineering class? Nolan Bushnell spent more time running the games at a local amusement park than he did on his studies at the University of Utah. His dreams of working for Disney's amusement empire were dashed when the company wouldn't hire him. Taking a boring job, Nolan daydreamed about electronic versions of popular games. He invented Pong, the first video game, and went on to found Atari Co.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7317179 | Systems and methods to shape laser light as a homogeneous line beam for interaction with a film deposited on a substrate Systems and methods are disclosed for shaping and homogenizing a laser beam for interaction with a film. The shaping and homogenizing system may include a lens array and a lens that is positioned to receive laser light from the lens array and produce a respective el... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7277188 | Systems and methods for implementing an interaction between a laser shaped as a line beam and a film deposited on a substrate Systems and methods are disclosed for focusing a beam for an interaction with a film deposited on a substrate wherein the focused beam defines a short axis and a long axis. In one aspect, the system may include a detecting system to analyze light reflected from the ... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7002443 | Method and apparatus for cooling magnetic circuit elements An apparatus and method for providing cooling to a magnetic circuit element having a magnetic core disposed around a centrally located core support member having at least one core support member wall is disclosed which may comprise a core support coolant inlet; a co... | 02/21/2006 |
| 6928133 | Pressurized light water reactor having flow converting grooves for emergency core cooling water A direct vessel injection-type pressurized light water reactor (DVI-PLWR), in which an emergency core cooling water (ECC) is directly injected into a downcomer of a reactor vessel, is disclosed. In order to reduce the ratio of ECC bypass from the downcomer to a brok... | 08/09/2005 |
| 6487266 | Siphon water rods A fuel bundle assembly for a boiling water nuclear reactor comprising a plurality of fuel rods having respective fuel columns therein, and arranged in an ordered array, extending between upper and lower support structures, the plurality of fuel rods enclo... | 11/26/2002 |
| 6445758 | Internal structure of nuclear reactor with coolant flow stabilizing facility Within an upper plenum of a nuclear reactor, a portion of a heated coolant flows radially outward from a central portion of a core barrel (30) towards outlet nozzles (12) in a region of an upper core plate (21) extending outside of an outer periphery of t... | 09/03/2002 |
| 6278757 | Fuel assembly and nuclear reactor A resistance member (e.g., fuel holding portion of the lower tie plate) is provided at the lower end of the fuel assembly. Provision is made of a coolant ascending path in which said water rods have coolant inlet ports that are open in a region lower than... | 08/21/2001 |
| 6173028 | Apparatus for promoting intermixing of heated coolant streams in nuclear reactor An apparatus for promoting intermixing of heated fluid streams within a nuclear reactor vessel is implemented in such structural configuration and disposition as to be capable of not only promoting uniform temperature distribution of a heated fluid stream... | 01/09/2001 |
| 6141397 | Boiling water reactor core, boiling water reactor, and method of operating boiling water reactor In each of a number of fuel assemblies loaded in a core of a boiling water reactor, a fuel holding portion of a lower tie plate holds lower end portions a plurality of fuel rods and at least one water rod. The water rod includes a rising pipe opened to a ... | 10/31/2000 |
| 5953387 | Separation device for a vent volume in a nuclear reactor A steam/water separating device for a nuclear fuel bundle is located in a vent volume above part-length rods and includes a helical swirl vane. In one form, the swirl device lies below a vent tube and a transition element for flowing liquid laterally outw... | 09/14/1999 |
| 5857006 | Chimney for enhancing flow of coolant water in natural circulation boiling water reactor A chimney which can be reconfigured or removed during refueling to allow vertical removal of the fuel assemblies. The chimney is designed to be collapsed or dismantled. Collapse or dismantlement of the chimney reduces the volume required for chimney stora... | 01/05/1999 |
| 5774517 | Regulation of the core coolant flow rate of a natural circulation reactor A natural circulation reactor, especially a boiling water reactor, includes a reactor pressure vessel, a reactor core and a core jacket disposed within the reactor pressure vessel, surrounding the reactor core and having at least one inlet port and one ou... | 06/30/1998 |
| 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 |
| 5363421 | Control rod guide tube Control rod guide tube adapted to reduce vibration of a plurality of control rods disposed therein. The guide tube comprises an elongate housing surrounding the control rods, the housing having an opening at an end thereof for receiving a flowing fluid th... | 11/08/1994 |
| 5321731 | Modular steam separator with integrated dryer The present invention is directed to a modular steam separator with integrated dryer especially adapted for separating and drying steam exiting the core of a nuclear boiling water reactor. The instant modular separator with integrated dryer has a standpip... | 06/14/1994 |
| 5268945 | Boiling water reactor system with staggered chimney A natural circulation boiling water reactor system comprises a reactor vessel enclosing a reactor core, for generating steam to drive a turbine which can drive a generator to generate electricity. The vessel includes a chimney for guiding the recirculatin... | 12/07/1993 |
| 5229068 | 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 restore pressure drop to improve critical power... | 07/20/1993 |
| 5209897 | BWR core assembly A nuclear reactor core assembly includes a support plate having a plurality of inlets for channeling water to a core lattice fixedly joined thereto. The lattice includes a plurality of flow channels, each including a respective separately removable fuel b... | 05/11/1993 |
| 5183627 | Nuclear reactor with low-level core coolant intake A natural-circulation boiling-water reactor has skirts extending downward from control rod guide tubes to about 10 centimeters from the reactor vessel bottom. The skirts define annular channels about control rod drive housings that extend through the reac... | 02/02/1993 |
| 5180547 | Boiling water reactor with staggered chimney A natural circulation boiling water reactor system comprises a reactor vessel enclosing a reactor core, for generating steam to drive a turbine which can drive a generator to generate electricity. The vessel includes a chimney for guiding the recirculatin... | 01/19/1993 |
| 5180546 | Boiling water reactor with downcomer steam release channel A natural circulation boiling water reactor system using free-surface steam separation incorporates a series of tubes near the inner wall of its reaction vessel extending from a downcomer to well-above the downcomer. These tubes allow steam bubbles which ... | 01/19/1993 |
| 5178821 | Standby passive injection coolant water safety injection system for nuclear reactor plants A boiling water nuclear reactor plant is provided with a standby supply of auxiliary coolant water for use in the event of a loss of coolant mishap to provide supplementary coolant water for cooling the fuel core. The supply of standby auxiliary coolant w... | 01/12/1993 |
| 5130082 | Low pressure drop gas-liquid separator The present invention is directed to gas-liquid separators especially adapted for the separation of steam exiting the core of a nuclear boiling water reactor that utilizes natural circulation. Such separator has a barrel having a longitudinal axis and wid... | 07/14/1992 |
| 5120493 | Forced-circulation reactor with enhanced natural circulation A forced-circulation boiling-water reactor includes bypass check valves between a downcomer and a core inlet plenum. When the recirculation pumps are operating at full capacity, there is a maximum pressure differential from the downcomer to the core inlet... | 06/09/1992 |
| 5112570 | Two-phase pressure drop reduction BWR assembly design In a boiling water reactor having discrete bundles of fuel rods confined within channel enclosed fuel assemblies, an improved fuel design of bundles of fuel rods interior of the channels is disclosed. Specifically, partial length rods are utilized which e... | 05/12/1992 |
| 5100609 | Enhancing load-following and/or spectral shift capability in single-sparger natural circulation boiling water reactors The present invention discloses an improved methodology for achieving the desirable feature of recirculation flow control in a sparger-type natural-circulation BWR, enabling reactors utilzing the method to perform in load-following and/or spectral shift m... | 03/31/1992 |
| 5091146 | Steam vent tube for BWR fuel assembly In a fuel bundle for a boiling water reactor having one or more part length rods in the two phase region, a steam vent tube is introduced overlying the part length rods. The fuel bundle includes a lower tie plate for admitting water moderator and supporti... | 02/25/1992 |
| 5085826 | Steam dryer The present invention is directed to a separator for dividing a steam/water mixture into its liquid and steam components. The inventive separator comprises a pipe having an annular spiral strip which is attached to its inside wall, said pipe being in flui... | 02/04/1992 |
| 5078953 | Natural circulation boiling-water reactor with output power regulation A natural circulation boiling-water reactor system using free-surface steam separation incorporates a steam separator near the inner wall of its reaction vessel and extending into a downcomer. Steam so collected supplements the main steam flow from the re... | 01/07/1992 |
| 5017332 | Two-phase pressure drop reduction BWR assembly design In a boiling water reactor having discrete bundles of fuel rods confined within channel enclosed fuel assemblies, an improved fuel design of bundles of fuel rods interior of the channels is disclosed. Specifically, partial length rods are utilized which e... | 05/21/1991 |
| 5009838 | Internal pump for nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor internal pump has a pump shaft connected to a motor and rotatably passing through the bottom of a nuclear reactor pressure vessel, an impeller fitted to a front end portion of the pump shaft, a diffuser disposed on the downstream side of... | 04/23/1991 |
| 4947485 | Method for obtaining load-following capability in natural circulation, free-surface separation boiling water reactors The present invention is directed to a natural-circulation boiling water reactor of the free-surface separation type wherein housed within the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) is a nuclear core which with the RPV defines an annulus region which is in flow co... | 08/07/1990 |
| 4912733 | Steam-water separating system for boiling water nuclear reactors A steam separating system for boiling water nuclear reactors comprising a combination of mechanical steam separators with steam collecting and transferring units.... | 03/27/1990 |
| 4834937 | Fluid flow-restricting seals or baffles A baffle (12) is provided for the gaps between a pair of surfaces (10, 14). The baffle has a lantern configuration and comprises a number of spring steel foils (15) arranged in side-by-side relation with overlap between adjacent foils. Each foil (15) is o... | 05/30/1989 |
| 4810460 | Nuclear boiling water reactor upper plenum with lateral throughpipes In a boiling water reactor of the type having a reactor core for heating feedwater to generate a two-phase steam/water mixture and a core shroud head overlying the reactor core and defining a core upper plenum region, a plurality of conduits disposed in t... | 03/07/1989 |
| 4795608 | Nuclear fuel assembly A nuclear fuel assembly for a boiling reactor comprises a plurality of fuel rods arranged in four sub-bundles surrounded by a fuel channel of substantially square cross-section. A vertical channel-formed support member for the passage of water, separates ... | 01/03/1989 |
| 4793966 | Nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor in which rupture by fatigue of the components of the control-rod assemblies is precluded. The fatigue is caused by the vibration of the components or cavitation under the action of the coolant flowing at a high velocity transversely to t... | 12/27/1988 |
| 4788033 | Calandria A calandria for use in conducting the hot coolant of a nuclear reactor transversely. The calandria includes an upper plate and a lower plate which support tubes. The plates and tubes are enclosed in a shell which extends above the upper plate and has a su... | 11/29/1988 |
| 4786465 | Method for converting a downward flow of bypass coolant to an upward flow A method for converting a vertically downward flow of bypass coolant through coolant flow holes in a core barrel and former plates in a nuclear reactor to a vertically upward flow. Coolant flow holes are provided in the normally solid top former plate by ... | 11/22/1988 |
| 4759904 | Pressurized water reactor having improved calandria assembly A calandria assembly is received within the pressure vessel of a nuclear reactor system, at an elevation corresponding to the level of the outlet nozzles of the vessel, and receives pressurized coolant traveling in an axial flow direction within the vesse... | 07/26/1988 |
