Nuclear fission reactor fuel assembly adapted to permit expansion of the nuclear fuel contained therein

US9721679B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• TERRAPOWER, LLC · US

Inventors

• Charles E. Ahlfeld · Village of La Jolla, US
• John Rogers Gilleland · Kirkland, US
• Roderick A. Hyde · Redmond, US
• Muriel Y. Ishikawa · Livermore, US
• David G. McAlees · Bellevue, US
• Nathan P. Myhrvold · Bellevue, US
• Clarence T. Tegreene · Bellevue, US
• Thomas A. Weaver · San Mateo, US
• Charles Whitmer · North Bend, US
• Lowell L. Wood, JR. · Bellevue, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Apr 8, 2008
• Grant date: Aug 1, 2017
• Expiry date: Apr 12, 2034

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y02E30/30
• WIPO field: Engines, pumps, turbines
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

A nuclear fission reactor fuel assembly adapted to permit expansion of the nuclear fuel contained therein. The fuel assembly comprises an enclosure having enclosure walls to sealingly enclose a nuclear fuel foam defining a plurality of interconnected open-cell voids or a plurality of closed-cell voids. The voids permit expansion of the foam toward the voids, which expansion may be due to heat generation and/or fission gas release. The voids shrink or reduce in volume as the foam expands. Pressure on the enclosure walls is substantially reduced because the foam expands toward and even into the voids rather than against the enclosure walls. Thus, the voids provide space into which the foam can expand.