Induced nuclear reactions: processes – systems – and elements – Handling of fission reactor component structure within... – Fuel component
Patent
1995-10-12
1997-04-08
Wasil, Daniel D.
Induced nuclear reactions: processes, systems, and elements
Handling of fission reactor component structure within...
Fuel component
376264, G21C 1920
Patent
active
056195478
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The subject of the present invention is a device for guiding fuel assemblies which is intended to bring it, while it is being loaded, to a location of a lower plate of the core intended to receive it in a nuclear reactor.
Various devices intended to fulfil this function are already known, such as those described in documents JR-A-2,588,689 and FR-A-2,614,128. The guiding device according to the latter document comprises= assembly, intended to rest on the core plate, equipped with holding means intended to be grasped by an assembly-handling machine, extended downwards by means for positioning it on the lower core plate at an assembly location adjacent to the one intended to receive the assembly to be guided, and 90.degree. in a horizontal plane, each one having an inclined guide face ending at the bottom at the location intended to receive the assembly when the device is installed.
Such a device is placed, with the aid of the mast of the loading machine, at the location diagonally adjacent to the one which is to receive an assembly to be loaded. It makes it possible to bring the base of the assembly to its correct location and facilitates the engagement of the centring holes with which the assembly is equipped in the fingers of the plate which are intended to receive them, even when the assembly has been deformed as a result of earlier irradiation.
In this known device, the wings are fastened rigidly to the body. They make the overall size of the device in plan view very much greater than that of a fuel assembly and as a consequence complicate the handling and storage of the device. What is more, the device cannot be used for guiding an edge assembly into its receiving location.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
It is a object of invention to provide a guiding device which meets the practical requirements better than those known previously, especially in that it is easier to store: it may especially be placed in a cell for storing a fuel assembly in a pit.
In an advantageous embodiment, each wing is mounted on a pin allowing it to tilt between the deployed and withdrawn positions, through an opening formed in a lateral wall of the body. In general, the pin will be placed so that the weight of the wing tends to bring it into the deployed position. Often this will lead to the pin of each wing being orientated so that it moves progressively away from the face in which the opening is made close to the dihedron enframed by the two wings and so that it slopes downwards, from the inside towards the outside of the body.
As a general rule, the wings will be equipped with means causing them to be withdrawn automatically when the device is lifted up off the lower core plate. For this purpose, the body may contain gear which can be displaced vertically between a bottom position (into which the gear tends to be brought under gravity, owing to its weight, and/or by a spring and in which it keeps each wing in the withdrawn position) and a top position into which it is brought by abutting against elements of the lower core plate (such as the assembly-centring fingers, for example) and allows the wing to tilt, generally under the action of its weight, into the deployed position.
The displacement of each wing may be limited by adjustable limit stops. A bolt may be provided for immobilizing the wings in the retracted position, for example when the device is to be placed in a storage location, in a pit.
The device is advantageously made the same size as the assemblies with which it is intended to interact, so that the device can be handled in the same way as an assembly, during both loading and transfer to the pit. It is also advantageous to give the device the same weight as an assembly.
The invention will be better understood upon reading a particular embodiment given by way of a non-limiting example. The description refers to the accompanying drawings:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an elevation of the whole device, with the wings deployed;
FIG. 2 is a view from beneath of the device of FI
REFERENCES:
patent: 3253995 (1966-05-01), Antonsen et al.
patent: 4676945 (1987-06-01), Barkhurst
patent: 4788028 (1988-11-01), Leclerco et al.
Amiet Pierre
Brin Michel
Compagnie Generale des Matieres Nucleaires
Framatome
Wasil Daniel D.
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