G21C 3/02
Fuel elements
Official title: Fuel elements {(manufacture thereof G21C21/02)}
G21C3/02 (Fuel elements) appears on 1,037 US grants and 766 published applications in this corpus.
Search patents in G21C- Granted patents
- 1,037
- Published applications
- 766
- Assignees
- 312
- Inventors
- 1,947
- Latest grant
- 8 Sep 2026
Filings by year
| Year | Granted patents | Published applications |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 31 | 0 |
| 1977 | 24 | 0 |
| 1978 | 25 | 0 |
| 1979 | 6 | 0 |
| 1980 | 14 | 0 |
| 1981 | 10 | 0 |
| 1982 | 11 | 0 |
| 1983 | 8 | 0 |
| 1984 | 9 | 0 |
| 1985 | 11 | 0 |
| 1986 | 17 | 0 |
| 1987 | 36 | 0 |
| 1988 | 25 | 0 |
| 1989 | 28 | 0 |
| 1990 | 26 | 0 |
| 1991 | 26 | 0 |
| 1992 | 11 | 0 |
| 1993 | 44 | 0 |
| 1994 | 27 | 0 |
| 1995 | 18 | 0 |
| 1996 | 15 | 0 |
| 1997 | 16 | 0 |
| 1998 | 27 | 0 |
| 1999 | 18 | 0 |
| 2000 | 9 | 0 |
| 2001 | 11 | 4 |
| 2002 | 5 | 8 |
| 2003 | 8 | 8 |
| 2004 | 8 | 4 |
| 2005 | 6 | 4 |
| 2006 | 3 | 15 |
| 2007 | 3 | 13 |
| 2008 | 4 | 11 |
| 2009 | 6 | 28 |
| 2010 | 9 | 38 |
| 2011 | 8 | 25 |
| 2012 | 12 | 18 |
| 2013 | 9 | 30 |
| 2014 | 29 | 38 |
| 2015 | 19 | 29 |
| 2016 | 25 | 41 |
| 2017 | 40 | 48 |
| 2018 | 38 | 44 |
| 2019 | 36 | 30 |
| 2020 | 45 | 77 |
| 2021 | 47 | 49 |
| 2022 | 41 | 58 |
| 2023 | 42 | 48 |
| 2024 | 35 | 48 |
| 2025 | 32 | 21 |
| 2026 | 24 | 29 |
By publication year. Applications have been published since 2001. 2026 runs to 8 Oct.
Subgroups
Granted patents
- G21C 3/04Constructional details960
- G21C 3/28With fissile or breeder material in solid form within a non-active casing58
- G21C 3/24With fissile or breeder material in fluid form within a non-active casing21
- G21C 3/22With fissile or breeder material in contact with coolant14
- G21C 3/26With fissile or breeder material in powder form within a non-active casing8
Recent patents
- Heat pipe fuel element and fission reactor incorporating same, particularly having phyllotaxis spacing pattern of heat pipe fuel elements, and method of manufacture8 Sep 2026US 12,731,700 B2BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC
- Nuclear reactors having liquid metal alloy fuels and/or moderators4 Aug 2026US 12,700,513 B2
- Fuel element with multi-smear density fuel4 Aug 2026US 12,700,514 B2TerraPower, LLC
- Fuel cladding covered by a mesh4 Aug 2026US 12,700,515 B2Westinghouse Electric Corp.
- Method for preparing UO2 mixture powder for nuclear fuel manufacturing by means of IBC blender, and UO2 mixture powder for nuclear fuel manufacturing, prepared thereby21 Jul 2026US 12,688,944 B2Kepco Nuclear Fuel Co., Ltd.
- Nuclear reactor loading system and methods of use thereof8 Oct 2026US 2026/0311901 A1Abilene Christian University
- Methods for fabricating articles having different materials through hot isostatic pressing and additive manufacturing, methods for fabricating nuclear fuel assemblies through hot isostatic pressing and additive manufacturing, and related nuclear fuel assemblies1 Oct 2026US 2026/0295669 A1Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC
- Use of oxidation resistant coatings to increase thin walled cladding tensile strength to increase uranium loadings1 Oct 2026US 2026/0301977 A1Westinghouse Electric Corp.
- Fuel Assembly24 Sep 2026US 2026/0290631 A1Hitachi, Ltd.
- Nuclear reactor loading system and methods of use thereof17 Sep 2026US 2026/0279606 A1Abilene Christian University
Most cited
By later US patents
- Process for fabricating a zirconium-niobium alloy and articles resulting therefrom53US 4,649,023 AWestinghouse Electric Corp. · 1987
- Nuclear fuel element49US 4,200,492 AGeneral Electric Company · 1980
- Sputtering process burnable poison coating47US 5,272,735 ACombustion Engineering, Inc. · 1993
- Destruction of plutonium47US 5,513,226 AGeneral Atomics · 1996
- Fe-base austenitic steel having single crystalline austenitic phase, method for producing of same and usage of same45US 5,203,932 AHitachi, Ltd. · 1993