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US 2016/0180972 A1Published application
Nuclear fuel assembly support feature
AssigneeWestinghouse Electric Corp.
InventorsNATHAN J. PAYNE, Jeffrey M. McCarty
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A nuclear fuel assembly having lateral support provided by a bimetallic spring that extends from a side of the fuel assembly under certain core conditions to pressure against an adjacent component and withdraws under other core conditions, such as shutdown, to enable the nuclear fuel assembly to be aligned or withdrawn from the core and repositioned.
Claims20
A nuclear fuel assembly having an elongated dimension and comprising:
- a plurality of interconnected components wherein at least some of the interconnected components comprise:
- a top nozzle;
- a bottom nozzle;
- a plurality of guide thimbles extending between the top nozzle and the bottom nozzle;
- and
- a plurality of grids arranged in a tandem spaced relationship that extends between the top nozzle and the bottom nozzle along the elongated dimension, with each of the having a plurality of cells some of which support fuel rods and others through which the guide thimbles respectively pass and attach to the grid;
- wherein at least some of the interconnected components have a peripheral surface area that extends in a plane a distance along the elongated dimension;
- and
- wherein one of the at least some of the interconnected components has a bimetallic spring that moves between a first and second position relative to the plane as the fuel assembly transitions in a reactor core from a shutdown temperature to an operating temperature, with one of the first and second positions placing the bimetallic spring in contact with an adjoining component of the reactor core.
6 more elements
A nuclear reactor having a reactive core comprising a plurality of fuel assemblies, each having an elongated dimension and comprising:
- a plurality of interconnected components wherein at least some of the interconnected components comprise:
- a top nozzle;
- a bottom nozzle;
- a plurality of guide thimbles extending between the top nozzle and the bottom nozzle;
- and
- a plurality of grids arranged in a tandem spaced relationship that extends between the top nozzle and the bottom nozzle along the elongated dimension, with each of the grids having a plurality of cells some of which support fuel rods and others through which the guide thimbles respectively pass and attach to the grid;
- wherein at least some of the interconnected components have a peripheral surface area that extends in a plane a distance along the elongated dimension;
- and
- wherein on some but not all of the fuel assemblies one of the at least some of the interconnected components has a bimetallic spring that does not extend substantially out of the plane at temperatures substantially below a nuclear reactor operating temperature and protrudes outwardly from the nuclear fuel assembly at operating temperatures of the nuclear reactor to an extent to contact an adjoining component of a core of the nuclear reactor.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.