# US 5,347,550 A · Core of light-water reactor

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- Number: US 5,347,550 A
- Document ID: US5347550A
- Status: Granted
- Kind: A
- Application number: 08/034,670
- Filed: 1993-03-22
- Granted: 1994-09-13
- Earliest claimed: 1987-03-28
- Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
- Inventors: Akira Tanabe; Ritsuo Yoshioka; Makoto Ueda; Koichi Sakurada; Shouichi Watanabe
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US5347550A

## CPC

- G21C 7/04: of burnable poisons (burnable poisons in fuel rods G21C3/326)
- G21C 3/18: Internal spacers or other non-active material within the casing, e.g. compensating for expansion of fuel rods or for compensating excess reactivity (interlayers G21C3/20)
- G21C 5/02: Details
- Y02E 30/30: Nuclear fission reactors
- G21C: NUCLEAR REACTORS (fusion reactors, hybrid fission-fusion reactors G21B; nuclear explosives G21J)
- Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION

## Abstract

A core of a light-water reactor comprises a plurality of fuel assemblies each including a number of fuel rods. The fuel rod is provided with at least one area interposed between fuel areas in a clad of the fuel rod. The interposed area contains extremely reduced or substantially no fissile nuclide. At least two areas or layers with high enrichment of the fissile nuclide are formed in the axial direction of the reactor by the location of the interposed areas throughout the whole fuel assemblies arranged in the light-water reactor core.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A water reactor core comprising:
a plurality of fuel assemblies each including a number of fuel rods,
at least some of the fuel rods including upper, lower, and middle enriched fissile areas, at least two of the upper, lower, and middle enriched fissile areas having different vertical widths,
at least some of the fuel rods including upper and lower interposed areas not enriched in fissile nuclide at axial predetermined portions between areas of enriched fissile nuclide, the upper interposed area being between the upper and middle enriched fissile area, the lower interposed area being between the middle and lower enriched fissile areas, the interposed areas including natural or depleted uranium, the upper interposed area having a vertical width different than that of the lower interposed area, the vertical widths of both the upper and the lower interposed areas each being between about 3 and 8 centimeters, and
wherein a burnable poison is added to fuel pellets located in fuel rods adjacent to the upper and lower interposed areas.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

A water reactor core as set forth in claim 1, wherein said water reactor core is a pressurized water reactor core.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

A water reactor core as set forth in claim 1, wherein said water reactor core is a boiling water reactor core.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

A water reactor core as set forth in claim 1, wherein said water reactor core is a light water reactor core.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

A water reactor core as set forth in claim 1, wherein the vertical width of the middle enriched fissile area is smaller than that of the upper and lower enriched fissile areas.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

A water reactor core as set forth in claim 1, wherein the upper and lower interposed areas in each fuel assembly are arranged at the same level in the axial direction.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

A water reactor core as set forth in claim 1, wherein at least one of the upper and lower interposed areas includes natural uranium or depleted uranium having a hollow portion.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

A water reactor core according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the fuel assemblies has an interposed area positioned one-fourth of the distance down from the top of the fuel assembly.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

A water reactor core according to claim 1, wherein the upper interposed areas are located at the same vertical level in each fuel assembly, and the lower interposed areas are located at the same level in each fuel assembly.

### Claim 10 (depends on 7)

A water reactor core as set forth in claim 7, wherein the hollow portion forms a plenum for storing gas.