Fuel bundles having twisted ribbon fuel rods for nuclear thermal propulsion applications, structures for manufacture, and methods of manufacture - Patents.com

Abstract

The fuel bundle has a plurality of twisted ribbon fuel rods in a hexagonal or circular packing arrangement in a core region encased in a multi-layer casing. The arrangement of the twisted ribbon fuel rods is facilitated by a rod seating fixture with a seating surface having a plurality of protrusions that form receiving spaces for the ends of the twisted ribbon fuel rods. The manufacture of the fuel bundle incorporates fiber manufacturing techniques and, optionally, penetration of gaps in the core region with an infiltrant. The twisted ribbon fuel rod manufacturing system has subsystems for imparting twist periodicity to the extruded ribbons, inspecting the twisted extruded ribbons, and cutting the twisted extruded ribbons to length. The inspection provides feedback for sorting the twisted ribbon fuel rods and for adjusting the operation of the subsystems. The fuel bundle (and optional fuel bundle support) may be incorporated into a fuel assembly of a nuclear propulsion nuclear fission reactor structure, for example, of a nuclear thermal propulsion engine.

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