Plenum plate standoff spools for separating a pair of plenum plates in a nuclear reactor

Patent · Tue Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2023

OSTI ID:2222163

Inman, James B.; DeLessio, Steven M.; Whitten, Andrew C.; Hamilton, Curtis G.

A nuclear reactor has first and second plenum plates disposed in a pressure vessel. Both plenum plates have a plurality of apertures. The second plenum plate is parallel to the first plenum plate. A fuel element includes a fuel element coolant flow tube which extends through aligned apertures of the parallel plenum plates. A fuel element standoff spool is disposed about a portion of the fuel element coolant flow tube which is located between the plenum plates. The nuclear reactor is also usable in nuclear thermal propulsion.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); BWXT Nuclear Energy, Inc., Lynchburg, VA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-05ID14517; 00212687; 80MSFC17C0006
• Assignee: BWXT Nuclear Energy, Inc. (Lynchburg, VA)
• Patent Number(s): 11,724,830
• Application Number: 17/025,755
• OSTI ID: 2222163
• Resource Relation: Patent File Date: 09/18/2020
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English