Fuel basket for spent nuclear fuel and container implementing the same
AssigneeHoltec International
InventorsKrishna P. Singh, P. Stefan Anton, Richard M. Springman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for supporting spent nuclear fuel. The apparatus may include a basket apparatus that is designed to be inserted into a cavity of a container or cask. The basket apparatus may be formed by arranging a plurality of slotted plates in an intersecting manner. The slotted plates may form fuel cells for storing fuel assemblies with spent nuclear fuel rods therein and flux trap spaces between adjacent ones of the fuel cells. Furthermore, the apparatus may include reinforcement members positioned in the flux traps to increase the structural strength of the basket apparatus.
Claims25
An apparatus for supporting spent nuclear fuel, the apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of wall plates arranged in an intersecting manner to define a basket apparatus extending along a longitudinal axis, the basket apparatus comprising a plurality of fuel cells and a plurality of flux traps between adjacent ones of the fuel cells;
- and
- a plurality of reinforcement members positioned in the flux traps and extending between opposing ones of the wall plates that form the flux traps;
- wherein each of the wall plates is a slotted wall plate, the slotted wall plates interlocked with one another to form the basket apparatus;
- wherein each of the slotted wall plates comprises an upper edge, a lower edge, and a plurality of plate slots formed in each of the upper and lower edges, the plate slots of each of the slotted wall plates receiving intersecting ones of the slotted wall plates;
- wherein each of the slotted wall plates further comprises a plurality of reinforcement slots in at least one of the upper edge or the lower edge, the reinforcement slots of the slotted wall plates receiving flange portions of the reinforcement members.
An apparatus for supporting spent nuclear fuel, apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of wall plates forming a basket apparatus comprising a plurality of fuel cells and a plurality of flux traps between adjacent ones of the fuel cells;
- the basket apparatus extending along a longitudinal axis and comprising a top-most axial portion, a bottom-most axial portion, and a middle portion;
- a first set of reinforcement members positioned in lower portions of the flux traps formed by the bottom-most axial portion of the basket apparatus, the reinforcement members of the first set extending between sections of opposing ones of the wall plates that form the lower portions of the flux traps;
- a second set of reinforcement members positioned in upper portions of the flux traps formed by the top-most axial portion of the basket apparatus, the reinforcement members of the second set extending between sections of opposing ones of the wall plates that form the upper portions of the flux traps;
- and
- a plurality of fuel assemblies disposed in the fuel cells, each of the fuel assemblies comprising a plurality of spent nuclear fuel rods supported between two end caps.
An apparatus for supporting spent nuclear fuel, the apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of wall plates forming a basket apparatus comprising a plurality of fuel cells and a plurality of flux traps between adjacent ones of the fuel cells, the wall plates comprising reinforcement slots;
- a plurality of reinforcement members, each of the reinforcement members comprising a body portion and first and second flange portions protruding from opposite sides of the body portion;
- the reinforcement members positioned in the flux traps so that:
- (1) the first and second flange portions nest within the reinforcement slots of opposing ones of the wall plates that form the flux traps;
- and (2) the body portion abuts outer surfaces of the opposing ones of the wall plates, thereby maintaining a fixed distance between the outer surface of the opposing ones of the slotted wall plates.
An apparatus for supporting spent nuclear fuel, the apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of wall plates forming a basket apparatus that extends along a longitudinal axis and comprises a plurality of fuel cells and a plurality of flux traps between adjacent ones of the fuel cells;
- and
- a plurality of reinforcement members positioned in the flux traps and extending between opposing ones of the wall plates that form the flux traps, the reinforcement members arranged in a plurality of longitudinal groups, each of the longitudinal groups comprising a subset of the reinforcement members arranged in a spaced apart manner along a group axis that is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis;
- wherein each of the reinforcement members are configured to engage reinforcement slots formed in an upper edge or a lower edge of the wall plates.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.