# US 7,613,272 B2 · Methods of using fuel bundle groups as evaluation constraints

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- Number: US 7,613,272 B2
- Document ID: US7613272B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 12/213,853
- Filed: 2008-06-25
- Published: 2009-01-08
- Granted: 2009-11-03
- Earliest claimed: 2005-05-13
- Assignees: Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas, LLC
- Inventors: Steven B. Sutton; David J. Kropaczek; Christian C. Oyarzun; Mehdi Asgari
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7613272B2

## CPC

- G21C 19/205: {Interchanging of fuel elements in the core, i.e. fuel shuffling}
- G21D 3/001: {Computer implemented control}
- Y02E 30/00: Energy generation of nuclear origin
- Y02E 30/30: Nuclear fission reactors
- G21C: NUCLEAR REACTORS (fusion reactors, hybrid fission-fusion reactors G21B; nuclear explosives G21J)
- G21D: NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
- Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION

## Abstract

A method of fuel bundle consideration in a reactor. The method includes creating or editing bundle groups including fuel bundles.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of implementing bundle groups as a constraint in an evaluation, comprising:
creating a plurality of fuel bundle groups in a current loading map;
generating a first plurality of proposed loading maps to establish potential core loading at a next cycle of operation;
filtering the plurality of proposed loading maps based on a user-selected symmetry and a user-selected fuel bundle characteristic to create a second plurality of proposed loading maps, the second plurality of proposed loading maps satisfying the user-selected symmetry and the user-selected fuel bundle characteristic;
configuring an objective function to evaluate the second plurality of proposed loading maps; and
selecting a loading map from the proposed loading maps with the objective function.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the filtering includes limiting each fuel bundle movement between the current loading map and each of the second plurality of proposed loading maps to exchanges between fuel bundles satisfying the user-selected symmetry and the user-selected fuel bundle characteristic.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the region of symmetry is one of octant, quadrant, and semi.