G21D 7/04
Arrangements for direct production of electric energy from fusion or fission reactions
Official title: using thermoelectric elements {or thermoionic converters}(structural combination of fuel element with thermoelectric element {or with thermoionic converters} G21C3/40 {, G21H1/10}; thermoelectric elements per se H10N10/00, H10N15/00)
G21D7/04 (Arrangements for direct production of electric energy from fusion or fission reactions) appears on 49 US grants and 56 published applications in this corpus.
Search patents in G21D- Granted patents
- 49
- Published applications
- 56
- Assignees
- 38
- Inventors
- 132
- Latest grant
- 5 May 2026
Filings by year
| Year | Granted patents | Published applications |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 2 | 0 |
| 1977 | 0 | 0 |
| 1978 | 0 | 0 |
| 1979 | 0 | 0 |
| 1980 | 0 | 0 |
| 1981 | 0 | 0 |
| 1982 | 1 | 0 |
| 1983 | 0 | 0 |
| 1984 | 1 | 0 |
| 1985 | 0 | 0 |
| 1986 | 0 | 0 |
| 1987 | 0 | 0 |
| 1988 | 2 | 0 |
| 1989 | 3 | 0 |
| 1990 | 2 | 0 |
| 1991 | 1 | 0 |
| 1992 | 1 | 0 |
| 1993 | 3 | 0 |
| 1994 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | 1 | 0 |
| 1996 | 0 | 0 |
| 1997 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001 | 1 | 0 |
| 2002 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | 0 | 0 |
| 2005 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | 0 | 1 |
| 2008 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | 0 | 7 |
| 2011 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | 0 | 2 |
| 2013 | 0 | 2 |
| 2014 | 1 | 2 |
| 2015 | 1 | 1 |
| 2016 | 0 | 4 |
| 2017 | 5 | 1 |
| 2018 | 1 | 2 |
| 2019 | 0 | 2 |
| 2020 | 3 | 6 |
| 2021 | 2 | 2 |
| 2022 | 2 | 10 |
| 2023 | 5 | 3 |
| 2024 | 6 | 6 |
| 2025 | 4 | 4 |
| 2026 | 1 | 1 |
By publication year. Applications have been published since 2001. 2026 runs to 8 Oct.
Recent patents
- Nuclear reactor comprising a reactor vessel containing a reactor core and an alkali metal thermoelectric converter5 May 2026US 12,620,502 B2Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research & Design Institute
- Thermal power reactor30 Dec 2025US 12,512,229 B2Soletanche Freyssinet
- Nuclear-based heat and power for low-earth orbit (LEO) and deep space missions26 Aug 2025US 12,397,934 B2Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International, Inc.
- Energy production devices and associated components, and related heat transfer devices and methods13 May 2025US 12,300,397 B2Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC
- Structured plasma cell energy converter for a nuclear reactor7 Jan 2025US 12,191,043 B2
- Passive Thermal Energy Transport and Energy Conversion Methods for SLIMM Small Modular Reactor30 Apr 2026US 2026/0118068 A1UNM Rainforest Innovations
- System and method for lunar and planetary nuclear reactor25 Sep 2025US 2025/0299842 A1
- Thermal power reactor21 Aug 2025US 2025/0266178 A1Soletanche Freyssinet
- Portable nuclear power system26 Jun 2025US 2025/0210214 A1Nucube Energy, Inc.
- Thermal power conversion systems including heat pipes and photovoltaic cells6 Mar 2025US 2025/0079029 A1
Most cited
By later US patents
- Thermionic reactor module with thermal storage reservoir33US 4,755,350 AThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force · 1988
- Thermoelectric power system32US 3,931,532 AThe United States of America as represented by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration · 1976
- Thermionic nuclear reactor with flux shielded components30US 5,408,510 AThe Babcock & Wilcox Company · 1995
- Stacked vapor fed amtec modules16US 4,808,240 AThe United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy · 1989
- Thermionic generator module with heat pipes16US 5,219,516 AThermacore, Inc. · 1993