| US 7,526,058 B2 | ||
| Rod assembly for nuclear reactors | ||
| Russell Morgan Fawcett, Atkinson, N.C. (US); Randy Peter Gonzales, Wilmington, N.C. (US); Russell Patrick Higgins, Wilmington, N.C. (US); Robert Bryant James, Wilmington, N.C. (US); Michael Thomas Kiernan, Wilmington, N.C. (US); William Earl Russell, II, Wilmington, N.C. (US); Steven Bruce Shelton, Wilmington, N.C. (US); David Grey Smith, Leland, N.C. (US); Russell Edward Stachowski, Wilmington, N.C. (US); and Lukas Trosman, Wilmington, N.C. (US) | ||
| Assigned to General Electric Company, Schenectady, N.Y. (US) | ||
| Filed on Dec. 03, 2004, as Appl. No. 11/2,677. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2007/0133734 A1, Jun. 14, 2007 | ||
| Int. Cl. G21C 3/30 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 376—426 [376/412; 376/429] | 14 Claims |
| 1. A fuel bundle for use in a nuclear reactor, the fuel bundle comprising:
a plurality of rods, at least one of the rods being a multi-segment rod, each multi-segment rod including,
a plurality of rod segments,
the rod segments being removably mated to each other in an axial direction,
the rod segments being individually cladded,
the rod segments forming a continuous multi-segment rod having continuous cladding in the axial direction when so mated in
the axial direction,
at least one rod segment being an adaptor subassembly containing no irradiation target,
at least one irradiation target within a rod segment; and
a plurality of spacers, each spacer being spaced apart from other spacers in the axial direction, each spacer directly contacting
only an adaptor subassembly along the axial length of the multi-segment rods.
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