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Grinding tool for use in a fuel assembly repair and reconstitution system
| Details |
Inventors: Tolino, Ralph W.;
Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp. (Pittsburgh, PA)
Primary Examiner: Walsh; Donald P.
Assistant Examiner: Wasil; Daniel
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
Both a grinding tool and a thimble screw alignment plate are disclosed herein that greatly facilitate the removal and reinstallation of the bottom nozzle of a fuel assembly. The grinding tool includes a base plate, a grinding motor, a grinding head, a housing for isolating the grinding motor from ambient water, and both a guide mechanism and linear drive for guiding and pushing the grinding head into abrasive contact with a screw-obstructing portion of a bottom nozzle. The screw alignment plate includes a plurality of bores registrable with the screw holes of a bottom nozzle, and a resilient sleeve mounted over each bore for receiving, retaining and aligning the threaded end of a screw with each such screw hole. Both the grinding tool and screw alignment plate are particularly adapted for use in an overall fuel assembly repair and reconstitution system, and greatly expedite the removal of bottom nozzles whose feet include flanges or gussets that obstruct access to one or more of the thimble screws that connect the bottom nozzle to the support skeleton of the fuel assembly. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT General Overview of the Purpose, Structure and Method of the System With reference to FIG.
1, the purpose of the improved system 100 of the invention is to repair or to reconstitute fuel rod assemblies 110 in the spent fuel pool 111 of a nuclear power facility.
The fuel rod assemblies 110 used in such plants are generally comprised of a support skeleton 112 that confines and spaces a square array of fuel rods 114.
Such fuel rod assemblies 110 may include a 14.
times.
14, 15.
times.
15, or 17.
times.
17 square array of fuel rods 114, depending on the manufacturer.
The support skeleton 112 is formed from an array of thimble tubes 116 interspersed between the fuel rods 114 that are interconnected to a top nozzle 118 and a bottom nozzle 119 by thimble screws (not shown).
Disposed between the top and bottom nozzles 118 and 119 are a plurality of uniformly spaced grids 121.
As was previously pointed out, the grids are generally formed from an "egg crate" configuration of sheet metal that defines a plurality of cells that surround the fuel rods 114.
Prior to actuation, a fuel rod assembly 110 includes a control rod assembly (not shown) formed from an array of neutron-absorbing cadmium rods that are slidably removable from the assembly 110 when start-up is desired.
The lower end of the bottom nozzle 119 includes four feet 130a-130d upon which the fuel rod assembly 110 stands.
In some models of fuel rod assemblies 110, each of these feet 130a-130d includes reinforcing flanges 131 that extend over some of the thimble screws that attach the bottom nozzle 119 to the thimble tubes 116.
The improved fuel assembly repair and reconstitution system 100 comprises an elevator and carriage assembly 200, a grinding tool 300, a rod handling tool 400, a dual-access tool positioner 500, and a thimble screw installation plate 600.
The elevator and carriage assembly 200 of the invention 100 includes a height-adjustable frame 201, an elevator assembly 202 that has a carriage drive 203 for moving a carriage 204 to a selected point along the longitudinal axis of the frame 201, and a basket inverter 205 for selectively inverting a pair of adjacent baskets 206a, 206b that are rotatably mounted onto the carriage 204
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