Fail-safe reactivity compensation method for a nuclear reactor

Title: Fail-safe reactivity compensation method for a nuclear reactor

The present invention relates generally to the field of compensation methods for nuclear reactors and, in particular to a method for fail-safe reactivity compensation in solution-type nuclear reactors. In one embodiment, the fail-safe reactivity compensation method of the present invention augments other control methods for a nuclear reactor. In still another embodiment, the fail-safe reactivity compensation method of the present invention permits one to control a nuclear reaction in a nuclear reactor through a method that does not rely on moving components into or out of a reactor core, nor does the method of the present invention rely on the constant repositioning of control rods within a nuclear reactor in order to maintain a critical state.

Inventors:: Nygaard, Erik T.; Angelo, Peter L.; Aase, Scott B.

Issue Date:: 2018-01-23

OSTI Identifier:: 1417852

Assignee:: BWX Technologies, Inc. (Charlotte, NC) NNSASC

Patent Number(s):: 9,875,818

Application Number:: 13/649,419

Contract Number:: FC52-09NA29596

Resource Relation:: Patent File Date: 2012 Oct 11

Research Org:: BWX Technologies, Inc., Charlotte, NC (United States)

Sponsoring Org:: USDOE

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS

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Other works cited in this record:

Medical isotope production reactor
patent, January 1997

Ball, Russell
US Patent Document 5,596,611
URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN%2F5596611

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