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US 11,935,662 B2Granted
Elongate SiC fuel elements
AssigneeWestinghouse Electric Corp.
InventorsYun Long, Peng Xu, Edward J. Lahoda
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An elongate fuel element is described that has a silicon carbide cladding enclosing a fuel, such as UO2, wherein the fuel is dimensioned relative to the cladding to define gaps at each lateral end of the enclosure sufficiently large such that upon swelling in use, the fuel does not increase the strain on the cladding beyond the limits of the claddings strain tolerance. The lateral gaps at the ends of the fuel allow lateral expansion during swelling that reduces the strain on the cladding.
Claims20
An elongate plate fuel element for use in a nuclear reactor comprising:
- a silicon carbide cladding comprising:
- two opposing elongated walls;
- and
- two opposing end walls;
- wherein the elongated walls and the end walls define a rectangular enclosure, the rectangular enclosure having an enclosure length from end wall to end wall, an enclosure width from elongated wall to elongated wall, and an enclosure height defined by a height of the elongated walls and the end walls;
- and
- wherein the enclosure width is shorter than the enclosure length and shorter than the enclosure height;
- and
- nuclear fuel positioned within the rectangular enclosure, the fuel comprising:
- two elongated surfaces;
- and
- two end surfaces;
- wherein the fuel has a fuel length from end surface to end surface and a fuel width from elongated surface to elongated surface;
- and
- wherein the fuel width is shorter than the fuel length;
- wherein each of the two elongated surfaces, prior to swelling in use, are minimally spaced at a first distance from, and in a facing relationship to, a different one of the elongated walls of the cladding, and each of the end surfaces, prior to swelling in use, are spaced at a second distance from, and in facing relationship to, a different one of the end walls of the cladding;
- and
- wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance, and the first and second distances are dimensioned such that, in use, when the fuel swells, the swollen fuel swells beyond the first distance and up to but not beyond the second distance to deform the elongated walls of the cladding without deforming the end walls of the cladding and without straining the cladding more than 0.1%.
15 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.