Rod assembly for nuclear reactors

• Main Authors: SMITH, DAVID GREY, KIERNAN, MICHAEL THOMAS, JAMES, ROBERT BRYANT, FAWCETT, RUSSELL MORGAN, HIGGINS, RUSSELL PATRICK, STACHOWSKI, RUSSELL EDWARD, TROSMAN, LUKAS, RUSSELL II, WILLIAM EARL, GONZALES, RANDY PETER, SHELTON, STEVEN BRUCE
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 09.04.2008
• Subjects: GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING; NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR REACTORS; PHYSICS; REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGYGENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINSTCLIMATE CHANGE

A rod assembly (100) for a fuel bundle of a nuclear reactor may include an upper end piece (120), lower end piece (130) and a plurality of rod segments (110) attached between the upper and lower end pieces and to each other so as to form an axial length of the rod assembly. The rod assembly may include an adaptor subassembly (300,) provided at given connection points for connecting adjacent rod segments or a given rod segment with one of the upper and lower end pieces. The connection points along the axial length of the rod assembly may be located where the rod assembly contacts a spacer in the fuel bundle. One (or more) of the rod segments may include an irradiation target therein for producing a desired isotope when a fuel bundle containing one (or more) rod assemblies is irradiated in a core of the reactor.