Induced nuclear reactions: processes – systems – and elements – Handling of fission reactor component structure within... – Refueling machines
Patent
1981-11-30
1984-12-11
Schafer, Richard E.
Induced nuclear reactions: processes, systems, and elements
Handling of fission reactor component structure within...
Refueling machines
376245, 376277, 212149, 294 86A, 364153, 340685, G21C 1910
Patent
active
044877412
ABSTRACT:
Fuel assemblies of a nuclear reactor are transferred during fueling or refueling or the like by a crane. The work-engaging fixture of the crane picks up an assembly, removes it from this slot, transfers it to the deposit site and deposits it in its slot at the deposit site. The control for the crane includes a strain gauge connected to the crane line which raises and lowers the load. The strain gauge senses the load on the crane. The signal from the strain gauge is compared with setpoints; a high-level setpoint, a low-level setpoint and a slack-line setpoint. If the strain gauge signal exceeds the high-level setpoint, the line drive is disabled. This event may occur during raising of a fuel assembly which encounters resistance. The high-level setpoint may be overridden under proper precautions. The line drive is also disabled if the strain gauge signal is less than the low-level setpoint. This event occurs when a fuel assembly being deposited contacts the bottom of its slot or an obstruction in, or at the entry to the slot. To preclude lateral movement and possible damage to a fuel assembly suspended from the crane line, the traverse drive of the crane is disabled once the strain-gauge exceeds the low-level setpoint. The traverse drive can only be enabled after the strain-gauge signal is less than the slack-line set-point. This occurs when the line has been set in slack-line setting. When the line is tensioned after slack-line setting, the traverse drive remains enabled only if the line has been disconnected from the fuel assembly.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3740741 (1973-06-01), Jones
patent: 3854593 (1974-12-01), Gross
patent: 3913081 (1975-10-01), Hamilton
patent: 4081086 (1978-03-01), Shallenberger et al.
patent: 4212006 (1980-07-01), Cakebread et al.
Nuclear Engineering International, Jul. 1981, pp. 42-44, "Refuelling", B. Fontaine and P. Ribaux.
Burkett John P.
Sallustio Joseph
Vuckovich Michael
Abelee Daniel C.
Schafer Richard E.
Wasil Daniel
Westinghouse Electric Corp.
LandOfFree
Transfer of fuel assemblies does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Transfer of fuel assemblies, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Transfer of fuel assemblies will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1462726