Method and apparatus for executing an operation in a pressure vessel of a nuclear reactor
AssigneeKabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
InventorsTomoyuki Ito, Mitsuaki Shimamura, Motohiko Kimura
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Abstract
An operation method and apparatus in a pressure vessel of a nuclear reactor is provided. The operation apparatus including a body and a guide inserted from the upper side of the nuclear reactor to an interior of the jet pump. The operation apparatus circulate water inside the pressure vessel. The guide is positioned at the end of a body of the operation apparatus, and is inclined with respect to the center axis of the body so as to be inserted into a side opening of the jet pump.
Claims19
1-10. (canceled)
An apparatus for performing an operation inside a jet pump of a nuclear reactor in which the jet pump includes an opening with a tapered surface, the apparatus comprising:
- an apparatus body having an elongated tubular member sized to be essentially fully inserted into the jet pump of the nuclear reactor, the tubular member having an upper portion that defines a top end of the apparatus body and is attached to a wire for support;
- a weight for imparting gravitational force on the apparatus body, the weight having an upper portion that is coupled to a lower portion of the tubular member, via a bellows;
- a guide rod abuttedly connected to a lower portion of the weight, the lower portion of the weight defining a bottom end of the apparatus body, the guide rod being elastically biased toward a predetermined, non-zero angle relative to a vertical axis of the apparatus body;
- wherein, the biased, predetermined non-zero angle of the guide rod facilitates entry of the guide rod into the tapered surface of the jet pump opening, and
- wherein, after the guide rod is inserted into the jet pump opening, the apparatus body is lowered via the wire so that the apparatus body is essentially fully inserted into the jet pump to perform the operation.
-14. (canceled)
-23. (canceled)
An apparatus for executing an operation in a vessel of a nuclear reactor according to claim 21, wherein an angle between the guide and the body is adjustable.
An apparatus for executing an operation in a vessel of a nuclear reactor according to claim 21, wherein the tool commonly serves as the guide.
An apparatus for executing an operation in a vessel of a nuclear reactor according to claim 21, wherein the body includes:
- at least 3 members interconnected by joints, at least one of the joints being at least one of a rotational joint and a bending joint;
- and
- a plurality of extendable supports capable of stabilizing the body against a first plurality of interior surfaces of the pump.
An apparatus for executing an operation in a vessel of a nuclear reactor according to claim 21 further comprising:
- a first plurality of extendable supports attached to the body and capable of stabilizing the body against a first plurality of interior surfaces of the pump.
An apparatus for executing an operation in a vessel of a nuclear reactor according to claim 21 wherein, the body includes a plurality of joints, the joints including a joint that rotates around the vertical axis and a joint that adjusts an angle with respect to the vertical axis.
-32. (canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.