Quotables
"I watched his countenance closely, to see if he was not deranged ... and I was assured by other senators after he left the room that they had no confidence in it."
U.S. Senator Smith of Indiana ; After seeing Samuel Morse demonstrate the telegraph.
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7139352 | Reactivity control rod for core A reactivity control rod adapted to be used in a reactor core of a fast reactor and disposed at a substantially central portion of the reactor core for controlling a reactivity therein. The reactivity control rod includes a wrapper tube surrounded by a plurality of ... | 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 |
| 6885722 | Fuel assembly A fuel assembly attains high burnup and increases reactor shut-down margin when loaded into a reactor core wherein a water gap width on a control rod side and a water gap width on a side opposite to the control rod side are almost equal to each other. The fuel assem... | 04/26/2005 |
| 6845138 | Spacer grid with hybrid flow-mixing device for nuclear fuel assembly A spacer grid with hybrid flow-mixing devices for nuclear fuel bundle is made up of an intersection of a plurality of thin straps at right angles to form a plurality of cells for receiving and supporting fuel rods. Each strap is composed of two types of strap units,... | 01/18/2005 |
| 6600800 | Fuel element for a boiling water nuclear reactor In a boiling water fuel assembly, some of the fuel rods are shortened. It is necessary to establish a sufficiently high maximum power for transition to boiling. To optimize this power, spacers are at a constant distance at a bottom and are at a shorter di... | 07/29/2003 |
| 6434210 | Fuel assembly A fuel assembly attains high burnup and increases reactor shut-down margin when loaded into a reactor core wherein a water gap width on a control rod side and a water gap width on a side opposite to the control rod side are almost equal to each other. The... | 08/13/2002 |
| 6340536 | Zirconium and niobium alloy comprising erbium, preparation method and component containing said alloy An alloy of zirconium and niobium that includes erbium as a consumable neutron poison, its method of preparation and a component comprising said alloy are provided. This invention relates to an alloy of zirconium and niobium that includes erbium as a cons... | 01/22/2002 |
| 6327324 | Nuclear fuel assembly A fuel assembly for a boiling water reactor comprising a plurality of fuel units (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d), stacked on top of each other, each one comprising a top tie plate (5), a bottom tie plate (6) and a plurality of fuel rods (4a, 4b, 4c) arranged between the... | 12/04/2001 |
| 6301320 | Nuclear fuel assembly having MOX rods and MOX-gadolinia rods Nuclear fuel assembly configurations are provided for mixed oxide fuels. Neutron poisons are provided within the MOX of certain fuel rods in the fuel assembly, those fuel rods being preferentially grouped towards the periphery of the fuel assembly. In thi... | 10/09/2001 |
| 6263038 | MOX fuel arrangement for nuclear core In order to use up a stockpile of weapons-grade plutonium, the plutonium is converted into a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel form wherein it can be disposed in a plurality of different fuel assembly types. Depending on the equilibrium cycle that is required, a pre... | 07/17/2001 |
| 6233302 | Mox fuel arrangement for nuclear core In order to use up a stockpile of weapons-grade plutonium, the plutonium is converted into a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel form wherein it can be disposed in a plurality of different fuel assembly types. Depending on the equilibrium cycle that is required, a pre... | 05/15/2001 |
| 5872826 | Fuel assembly channel box having burnable poison A channel box for a nuclear-reactor fuel assembly (MOX fuel assembly) containing plutonium, capable of properly controlling the excess reactivity without mixing neutron absorber or burnable poison into a fuel rod, and a channel box for a nuclear-reactor f... | 02/16/1999 |
| 5822388 | MOX fuel arrangement for nuclear core In order to use up a stockpile of weapons-grade plutonium, the plutonium is converted into a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel form wherein it can be disposed in a plurality of different fuel assembly types. Depending on the equilibrium cycle that is required, a pre... | 10/13/1998 |
| 5724398 | Nuclear fuel elements A nuclear fuel element for use in a gas cooled nuclear reactor, such as a Magnox reactor, has a plurality of fuel pin supports defining an element axis passing through the supports. Suspended between the supports are a plurality of fuel pins formed by a s... | 03/03/1998 |
| 5629964 | Neutron absorbing apparatus A neutron absorbing apparatus which includes two adjacent neutron absorbing plates and a mounting assembly with latching means configured to be easily secured to fuel assemblies while the fuel assemblies remain under water in a fuel storage rack, thereby ... | 05/13/1997 |
| 5422922 | Fuel assembly and reactor core A fuel assembly and a reactor core using same which are able to increase size of the fuel assembly with ensuring thermal margin and reactor shut down margin. A distance between centers of adjacent fuel assemblies is about 23 cm, which is enlarged about 1.... | 06/06/1995 |
| 5410578 | Nuclear propulsion rocket A nuclear propulsion reactor. A pressure vessel is provided with a reactor core that is surrounded by a radial reflector. Nuclear fuel elements in the core are formed from a hexagonal housing made from a high performance moderator and having a plurality o... | 04/25/1995 |
| 5349619 | Fuel assembly for light water reactor and light water reactor core A fuel assembly for a light water reactor comprising a plurality of fuel rods which contain plutonium as a primary fissile material when exposure is zero, and a light water reactor including such fuel assemblies. The fuel assembly has a structure in which... | 09/20/1994 |
| 5227128 | Reactivity controlled fuel assembly A reactor core removable fuel assembly includes upper and lower tie plates having pluralities of fuel rods and hollow control rods extending therebetween. The lower tie plate includes a lower manifold therein joined in flow communication with a reservoir ... | 07/13/1993 |
| 5207979 | Nuclear fuel assemblies and reactor cores including them A nuclear fuel assembly has an array of fuel rods comprising a plurality of first fuel rods each containing nuclear fuel material but not containing burnable poison and a plurality of further fuel rods each containing both nuclear fuel material and burnab... | 05/04/1993 |
| 5202085 | Fuel assembly and reactor core A fuel assembly has a plurality of first fuel rods and a plurality of second fuel rods having a shorter length in an axial direction than the first fuel rods. The second fuel rod is loaded with natural uranium in full length of its effective fuel length p... | 04/13/1993 |
| 5198183 | Method and apparatus for close packing of nuclear fuel assemblies The apparatus of the present invention is a plate of neutron absorbing material. The plate may have a releasable locking feature permitting the plate to be secured within a nuclear fuel assembly between nuclear fuel rods during storage or transportation t... | 03/30/1993 |
| 5176877 | Nuclear fuel assembly and nuclear reactor core containing said assembly A nuclear fuel assembly for a nuclear reactor has a plurality of vertically extending fuel rods arranged side by side in a square array and containing fissile material. The array has two adjacent first sides which are next to a control rod region of the c... | 01/05/1993 |
| 5149495 | Water rod for nuclear reactor and method for providing and using same Water rod configurations, such as for a boiling water nuclear reactor, are provided. An efficiency parameter is defined which relate to how well-used the sacrificed fuel rod positions are. Four particular water rod configurations are described, which prod... | 09/22/1992 |
| 4935197 | Neutron shields for nuclear reactor core sub-assemblies A nuclear reactor core sub-assembly is provided with a removable lifting head (12)/absorber pin (20) assembly. The absorber pins (20) are connected to the lifting head (12) in such a way that they can be disconnected, inverted and reconnected the other wa... | 06/19/1990 |
| 4926450 | Fuel assembly A fuel assembly including a plurality of fuel rods and water rods. The fuel rods are arranged with a predetermined pitch and two water rods are disposed adjacent to each other in a diagonal direction of the fuel assembly. More particularly, the fuel rods ... | 05/15/1990 |
| 4917856 | Self-latching reactivity-reducing device for use in on-site spent fuel assembly storage A self-latching reactivity-reducing device contains neutron absorbing material and is installable in a guide thimble of a spent fuel assembly for reducing the reactivity of the assembly to allow its storage in an on-site fuel storage facility. The device ... | 04/17/1990 |
| 4876062 | Fuel assembly A fuel assembly of the present invention comprises a plurality of fuel rods which are held by an upper tie plate and lower tie plate at the ends thereof and a moderating rod which is arranged between the fuel rods and held by the lower tie plate at its lo... | 10/24/1989 |
| 4851186 | Nuclear reactor core and process for charging said core The core is constituted by detachable assemblies (21) disposed vertically and maintained in position by a support or bolster (22) receiving the lower part or foot (21a) of the assemblies (21) inside sleeves having a vertical axis (25). Each of the sleeves... | 07/25/1989 |
| 4818471 | BWR fuel assembly channel with localized neutron absorber strips for LPRM calibration A Local Power Range Monitor (LPRM) string is employed between BWR fuel assemblies arranged in side-by-side spaced positions. The string has a hollow tube and neutron detectors located therein at spaced axial locations and being adapted to provide local po... | 04/04/1989 |
| 4814138 | Method for repairing a nuclear reactor fuel assembly and a replacement rod for performing the method In a nuclear reactor fuel assembly having a fuel rod filled with nuclear fuel retained in a gap formed in a lattice-like spacer by a spring disposed in the gap, the fuel assembly is repaired by replacing the fuel rod with a replacement rod and the replace... | 03/21/1989 |
| 4784825 | Method and apparatus for preventing and repairing vibrational damage to nuclear fuel rods The fuel rods located in areas of a nuclear reactor core where water jetting damage to the rods can occur are secured together by a clip, in order to change the mass subject to fretting damage. The change of mass changes the amplitude of the induced fuel ... | 11/15/1988 |
| 4755348 | Cooled water rod (LOCA conditions) An apparatus and process utilizing a large water rod of a fuel bundle in a boiling water reactor fuel assembly as a radiation heat sink during a loss of coolant accident. Core cooling spray is collected at the top end of the bundle's large water rod by a ... | 07/05/1988 |
| 4751041 | Burnable neutron absorber element A burnable, thermal neutron absorber element is provided with a zirconium alloy elongate container having sealed therein both a burnable absorber and the solid moderator material, zirconium hydride. The zirconium hydride is in a concentration and position... | 06/14/1988 |
| 4696793 | Burnable poison rod for use in a nuclear reactor A burnable poison rod for use in a nuclear reactor comprises a metallic tube with upper and lower closure means, a neutron absorber positioned within the cladding, and a neutron moderating spacer means positioning the neutron absorber in spaced relation t... | 09/29/1987 |
| 4695425 | Fuel assembly A fuel assembly having a plurality of fuel rods arranged in a lattice state and being charged into a core of a nuclear reactor using light water as a coolant, which comprises the fuel rods consisting of a first group of fuel rods and a second group of fue... | 09/22/1987 |
| 4687631 | Top nozzle mounted reusable fastener device in a reconstitutable nuclear fuel assembly A reusable fastener device includes an attachment nut and a retainer housing mounted to the adapter plate of the fuel assembly top nozzle and removable with the top nozzle upon reconstitution of the fuel assembly. The attachment nut has a central tubular ... | 08/18/1987 |
| 4687621 | Nuclear fuel assembly with improved spectral shift-producing rods An improved spectral shift-producing rod in a fuel assembly of a nuclear reactor has an elongated hollow tubular body with a pair of end plugs attached to its opposite ends to hermetically seal the rod. A burnable poison material is contained in the hollo... | 08/18/1987 |
| 4684499 | Burnable absorber rod releasable latching structure A fuel assembly with a top nozzle having an adapter plate, at least one guide thimble connected to the adapter plate, and a burnable absorber rod disposed within the guide thimble, includes a releasable latching structure for releasably interconnecting an... | 08/04/1987 |
| 4684504 | Bow resistant structural member for fuel assemblies in non-control rod locations of a nuclear reactor core A fuel assembly for use at non-control rod locations of a nuclear reactor core includes top and bottom nozzles and longitudinal structural members extending between and attached to the nozzles for forming an integral unitary structure. One or more of the ... | 08/04/1987 |
