Nuclear reactor composite fuel assembly

Patent · 31 December 1979

OSTI ID:863728

Burgess, Donn M ^[1]; Marr, Duane R ^[2]; Cappiello, Michael W ^[1]; Omberg, Ronald P ^[1]

---

1. Richland, WA
2. West Richland, WA

A core and composite fuel assembly for a liquid-cooled breeder nuclear reactor including a plurality of elongated coextending driver and breeder fuel elements arranged to form a generally polygonal bundle within a thin-walled duct. The breeder elements are larger in cross section than the driver elements, and each breeder element is laterally bounded by a number of the driver elements. Each driver element further includes structure for spacing the driver elements from adjacent fuel elements and, where adjacent, the thin-walled duct. A core made up of the fuel elements can advantageously include fissile fuel of only one enrichment, while varying the effective enrichment of any given assembly or core region, merely by varying the relative number and size of the driver and breeder elements.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: E(45-1)-2170
• Assignee: United States of America as represented by United States (Washington, DC)
• Patent Number(s): US 4235669
• OSTI ID: 863728
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

/376/976/
adjacent
adjacent fuel
advantageously
arranged
assembly
bounded
breeder
breeder fuel
breeder nuclear
bundle
coextending
composite
composite fuel
core
core region
driver
duct
effective
element
elements
elements arranged
elongated
enrichment
fissile
form
fuel
fuel assembly
fuel element
fuel elements
including
larger
laterally
liquid-cooled
merely
nuclear
nuclear reactor
plurality
polygonal
reactor
reactor including
region
relative
section
size
spacing
structure
thin-walled
varying