公开(公告)号：US20160189805A1

公开(公告)日：2016-06-30

申请号：US14985138

申请日：2015-12-30

申请人： TerraPower, LLC

发明人： Jesse R. Cheatham, III

IPC分类号： G21C7/12 ,  G21C1/02 ,  G21C7/18 ,  G21C7/08

CPC分类号： G21C7/12 ,  G21C1/026 ,  G21C7/08 ,  G21C7/18 ,  G21D3/08 ,  Y02E30/34 ,  Y02E30/39

摘要： A control assembly for a nuclear reactor includes a first reactivity control assembly having a first neutron modifying material, a second reactivity control assembly having a second neutron modifying material, and at least one drive mechanism coupled to the first neutron modifying material and the second neutron modifying material. The first neutron modifying material and the second neutron modifying material are selectively repositionable relative to a fuel region of the nuclear reactor. The at least one drive mechanism is configured to provide the first neutron modifying material and the second neutron modifying material in different directions through the fuel region thereby shifting a flux distribution within the fuel region away from the second neutron modifying material.

摘要翻译： 用于核反应堆的控制组件包括具有第一中子修饰材料的第一反应性控制组件，具有第二中子修饰材料的第二反应性控制组件，以及耦合到第一中子修饰材料和第二中子修饰的至少一个驱动机构 材料。 第一中子修饰材料和第二中子改性材料相对于核反应堆的燃料区域选择性地可重新定位。 所述至少一个驱动机构构造成通过所述燃料区域在不同方向上提供所述第一中子修饰材料和所述第二中子修饰材料，从而使所述燃料区域内的通量分布偏离所述第二中子修饰材料。

公开(公告)号：US20150142411A1

公开(公告)日：2015-05-21

申请号：US14086474

申请日：2013-11-21

申请人： TerraPower, LLC

发明人： Nicholas W. Touran

IPC分类号： G06F17/50

CPC分类号： G21D3/001 ,  G21C19/205 ,  G21D3/004 ,  Y02E30/40

摘要： The generation of a nuclear core loading distribution includes receiving a reactor core parameter distribution associated with a state of a reference nuclear reactor core, generating an initial fuel loading distribution for a simulated beginning-of-cycle (BOC) nuclear reactor core, selecting an initial set of positions for a set of regions within the simulated BOC core, generating an initial set of fuel design parameter values utilizing a design variable of each of the regions, calculating a reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated BOC core utilizing the generated initial set of fuel design parameter values associated with the set of regions located at the initial set of positions of the simulated BOC core and generating a loading distribution by performing a perturbation process on the set of regions of the simulated BOC core to determine a subsequent set of positions for the set of regions within the simulated BOC core.

摘要翻译： 产生核心负载分布包括接收与参考核反应堆核心的状态相关联的反应堆核心参数分布，为模拟的初始循环（BOC）核反应堆核心产生初始燃料装载分布，选择初始 在模拟BOC核心内的一组区域的位置集合，利用每个区域的设计变量产生初始燃料设计参数值集合，利用生成的初始集合计算模拟BOC核心的反应堆核心参数分布 燃料设计参数值，其与位于模拟BOC核心的初始位置集合的区域集合相关联，并且通过对所述模拟BOC核心区域的集合执行扰动过程以产生负载分布，以确定随后的一组位置 模拟BOC核心区域集。

公开(公告)号：US09011613B2

公开(公告)日：2015-04-21

申请号：US13863521

申请日：2013-04-16

申请人： TerraPower, LLC

发明人： Charles E. Ahlfeld ,  John Rogers Gilleland ,  Roderick A. Hyde ,  David G. McAlees ,  Jon David McWhirter ,  Ashok Odedra ,  Clarence T. Tegreene ,  Joshua C. Walter ,  Kevan D. Weaver ,  Charles Whitmer ,  Lowell L. Wood, Jr. ,  George B. Zimmerman

IPC分类号： C21D11/00 ,  G21D3/08 ,  C21D1/26 ,  G21C19/20

CPC分类号： G21D3/08 ,  C21D1/26 ,  G21C19/207

摘要： Illustrative embodiments provide systems, methods, apparatuses, and applications related to annealing nuclear fission reactor materials.

摘要翻译： 说明性实施例提供了与退火核裂变反应堆材料相关的系统，方法，装置和应用。

公开(公告)号：US20140328444A1

公开(公告)日：2014-11-06

申请号：US14284542

申请日：2014-05-22

申请人： TerraPower, LLC

发明人： Charles E. Ahlfeld ,  Pavel Hejzlar ,  Roderick A. Hyde ,  Muriel Y. Ishikawa ,  David G. McAlees ,  Jon D. McWhirter ,  Nathan P. Myhrvold ,  Ashok Odedra ,  Clarence T. Tegreene ,  Joshua C. Walter ,  Kevan D. Weaver ,  Thomas Allan Weaver ,  Charles Whitmer ,  Lowell L. Wood, JR. ,  George B. Zimmerman

IPC分类号： G21C3/32 ,  G21C19/303 ,  G21C17/10

CPC分类号： G21C3/3213 ,  G21C1/026 ,  G21C3/041 ,  G21C17/102 ,  G21C19/303 ,  Y02E30/34

摘要： Illustrative embodiments provide a nuclear fission reactor, a vented nuclear fission fuel module, methods therefor and a vented nuclear fission fuel module system.

摘要翻译： 说明性实施例提供核裂变反应堆，排放的核裂变燃料模块，其方法和排放的核裂变燃料模块系统。

公开(公告)号：US20230127207A1

公开(公告)日：2023-04-27

申请号：US18045398

申请日：2022-10-10

申请人： TerraPower, LLc

发明人： Ryan Abbott ,  Darryl Appelgate ,  Haley Barsa ,  Michael T. Blatnik ,  Karl Britsch ,  Anselmo T. Cisneros, JR. ,  Brian C. Kelleher ,  Samuel S. Goodrich ,  Ramesh Rajasekaran ,  Daniel J. Walter ,  Kent E. Wardle ,  Matthew D. Wargon

IPC分类号： G21C11/06 ,  G21C3/54

摘要： A simple nuclear reactor in which most of the reflector material is outside of the reactor vessel is described. The reactor vessel is a cylinder that contains all of the fuel salt and a displacement component, which may be a reflector, in the upper section of the reactor vessel. Other than the displacement component, the reflector elements including a radial reflector and a bottom reflector are located outside the vessel. The salt flows around the outside surface of the displacement component through a downcomer heat exchange duct defined by the exterior of the displacement component and the interior surface of the reactor vessel. This design reduces the overall size of the reactor vessel for a given volume of salt relative to designs with internal radial or bottom reflectors.

公开(公告)号：US11542437B2

公开(公告)日：2023-01-03

申请号：US17033319

申请日：2020-09-25

申请人： TerraPower, LLC ,  Washington State University

发明人： Manuel Garcia-Perez ,  Joshua C. Walter

IPC分类号： C10G1/00 ,  C10G1/02

摘要： The thermochemical conversion of biomass material to one or more reaction products includes generating thermal energy with at least one heat source, providing a volume of feedstock, providing a volume of supercritical fluid, transferring a portion of the generated thermal energy to the volume of supercritical fluid, transferring at least a portion of the generated thermal energy from the volume of supercritical fluid to the volume of feedstock, and performing a thermal decomposition process on the volume of feedstock with the thermal energy transferred from the volume of supercritical fluid to the volume of the feedstock in order to form at least one reaction product.

公开(公告)号：US20220363557A1

公开(公告)日：2022-11-17

申请号：US17742116

申请日：2022-05-11

申请人： TerraPower, LLc

发明人： Ken Czerwinski ,  Hilary Fitzgerald

IPC分类号： C01F17/00

摘要： The actinium generator described herein is based on peroxide precipitation of thorium from its daughter products radium and actinium. In this system, the “actinium generator” is a quantity of solid thorium peroxide stored under a cover solution. The thorium peroxide is stored as a suspension to allow for the buildup of the decay products radium and actinium in the suspension. The suspension is then treated with a peroxide solution and the solid and liquid phases are separated. The thorium remains in the solid peroxide form while the soluble actinium and radium are removed with the liquid phase in a rinsing step. After rinsing, an amount of the rinsing solution is retained with the thorium peroxide solid as a fresh cover solution to form another suspension for storage. This new suspension is then stored to allow actinium and radium to again build up in the suspension for a subsequent separation cycle.

公开(公告)号：US11501883B2

公开(公告)日：2022-11-15

申请号：US16869579

申请日：2020-05-07

申请人： TerraPower, LLC

发明人： Daniel Eichel ,  James M. Vollmer

IPC分类号： G21C3/17 ,  G21C3/18 ,  G21C3/32

摘要： A getter element includes a getter material reactive with a fission product contained within a stream of liquid and/or gas exiting a fuel assembly of a nuclear reactor. At least one transmission pathway passes through the getter element that is sufficiently sized to maintain a flow of the input stream through the getter element at above a selected flow level. At least one transmission pathway includes a reaction surface area sufficient to uptake a pre-identified quantity of the fission product.

公开(公告)号：US20220310278A1

公开(公告)日：2022-09-29

申请号：US17210384

申请日：2021-03-23

申请人： TerraPower, LLC

发明人： Joon Hyung Choi ,  Daniel Eichel ,  Mei He ,  Pavel Hejzlar ,  Mathieu G. Martin ,  Samuel J. Miller ,  James M. Vollmer

IPC分类号： G21C15/253 ,  G21C1/04

摘要： A nuclear reactor includes a heat exchanger that transfers thermal energy from a primary reactor coolant to a secondary coolant. The heat exchanger is formed with a hot flow channel, a cold flow channel, and a porous layer between the hot flow channel and the cold flow channel. The porous layer may be thermally insulative to reduce the efficiency of thermal energy transfer from the hot flow channel to the cold flow channel. The porous layer may have a control gas passed therethrough that can be tailored to control the thermal energy transfer through the porous layer. The control gas can be tested for leakage within the heat exchanger. The control gas may also be used to sequester fission or activation products.

公开(公告)号：US11421169B2

公开(公告)日：2022-08-23

申请号：US16684875

申请日：2019-11-15

申请人： TerraPower, LLC

发明人： Benjamin L. Goodrich ,  Pyoungchung Kim ,  Evan Terrell ,  Joshua C. Walter

IPC分类号： C10L5/08 ,  C10B53/04 ,  C10B57/10 ,  C10L5/36

摘要： This document describes methods for pretreating coal to create either a dried coal or a char product that is stable in the outdoor environment and is more efficient as a feedstock for gasification or other processes than the original coal. Embodiments of the methods include pulverizing and pelletizing the coal, and pretreating the coal pellets to obtain a stable pellet of either dried coal or a stable pellet of chared coal (coal char). The pellets created by the described methods have undergone deoxygenation and carbonization improving their handling and storage properties and, in some cases, energy density. Pore structures within the pellets are stabilized physically and chemically so that the uptake of moisture into dry coal, that leads to internal heat generation, is greatly reduced. Chars are also, therefore, stable against transitions from a dry state to a wet state and less prone to self-ignition.