Pneumatically operated target irradiation systems for the production of radioisotopes
AssigneeBWXT Isotope Technology Group, Inc.
InventorsThomas G. Onderwater, Mark A. Alboino, Benjamin D. Fisher, Andrew F. Long
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A target irradiation system for irradiating a radioisotope target in a vessel penetration of a fission reactor, including a target elevator assembly including a body portion defining a central bore and an open bottom end, a center tube that is disposed within the central bore of the body portion, a target basket that is slidably receivable within the center tube, and a winch that is connected to the target basket by a cable, wherein the target basket is configured to receive the radioisotope target therein and be lowered into the vessel penetration of the reactor when irradiating the radioisotope target.
Claims6
A target irradiation system for irradiating a radioisotope target in a vessel penetration of a fission reactor, comprising:
- a target elevator assembly including a body portion defining a central bore and an open bottom end, a center tube that is disposed within the central bore of the body portion, a target basket that is slidably receivable within the center tube, and a winch that is connected to the target basket by a cable, the target elevator assembly being affixed to the vessel penetration of the reactor;
- and
- a target passage that is in fluid communication with the target elevator assembly,
- wherein the target basket is configured to receive the radioisotope target therein via the target passage and be lowered into the vessel penetration of the reactor when irradiating the radioisotope target, and the target elevator assembly forms a portion of the pressure boundary of the reactor when in fluid communication with the reactor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.