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US 2009/0135989 A1Published application
Segmented fuel rod bundle designs using fixed spacer plates
AssigneeGE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC
InventorsWilliam Earl Russell, II, Christopher J. Monetta, Carlton Wayne Clark, Robert Bryant James, David Grey Smith
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Example embodiments are directed to a fuel rod design using segmented fuel rods that mechanically confine spacer plates to constant axial positions. Example embodiment spacer plates may be placed at axial connection points between fuel rod segments, and, when the fuel rod segments are mated, example embodiment spacer plates may be mechanically held by the mating.
Claims21
A nuclear fuel bundle comprising:
- a plurality of fuel rods disposed in a channel in an axial direction, at least one fuel rod formed of a plurality of fuel rod segments removably mated to each other in the axial direction and individually cladded;
- at least one spacer plate spanning the channel in a transverse direction perpendicular to the axial direction, the spacer plate rigidly confined in the channel by at least one mating between the fuel rod segments, the spacer plate including a plurality of joint rings interconnected by a plurality of spacing segments, each of the joint rings having an outer diameter that is substantially equal to a diameter of at least one of the first and second fuel rod segments.
(canceled)
A spacer plate for a nuclear fuel bundle, the spacer plate comprising:
- a plate having a plurality of joint rings connected by spacing segments, the plate being planar and non-welded, the joint rings having an inner diameter permitting a connection member from a fuel rod segment to pass through the joint ring.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.