Refuelling and/or storage neutron-absorbing rods
AssigneeRolls-Royce Smr Limited
InventorAndrew KNIGHT
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A nuclear reactor is provided. The reactor including: plural fuel rods containing fissile material; plural control rods, each made of a first neutron-absorbing material, the control rods being inserted between the fuel rods to reduce the rate of a fission reaction of the fission material and put the reactor in a shutdown state, but being operable to move in and out of the reactor to vary the rate of the fission reaction when the reactor is critical and generating useful power; and plural refueling and/or storage rods, each made of a second neutron-absorbing material different to the first material, the refueling and/or storage rods being inserted between the fuel rods to further reduce the rate of the fission reaction and maintain the shutdowns state.
Claims6
A method for reducing a rate of fission during shut down of a nuclear reactor including plural fuel rods containing fissile material, the method comprising the steps of:
- inserting plural control rods, each made of a first neutron-absorbing material, between the fuel rods to reduce the rate of a fission reaction of the fissile material and put the reactor into a shutdown state;
- and
- inserting plural refuelling rods, each made of a second neutron-absorbing material different to the first material, between the fuel rods to further reduce the rate of the fission reaction and maintain the shutdown state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.