Nuclear Fuel Cask Hood Arm for Plug Confinement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Nuclear fuel assembly containers pose a risk of radioactive contamination to the external environment during handling and transportation due to residual radioactive particles inside the containers, and existing solutions do not provide adequate confinement and protection.
Innovation Solution
A container loading cask with a hood system that includes a first arm movable in rotation and a second arm attached to the first arm, allowing for the secure storage of closure plugs during loading, along with pneumatic tools for actuating pads to hold fuel assemblies, and dynamic confinement means for preventing particle release.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the container is opened for loading fuel assemblies, then the loading operation can be performed, but radioactive contamination may spread to the external environment
Solution Approach 1:
A transfer cask serves as an intermediary device between the fuel assembly storage and the container. The cask allows plugs to be transferred and stored within its own sealed environment, preventing direct exposure of container interior elements to the external environment during loading operations. This mediator structure enables the loading operation while maintaining containment boundaries.
Solution Approach 2:
The transfer cask is nested within or positioned within the container structure during the loading operation. The cask's sealed housing contains plugs and loading equipment, creating a nested containment system where the inner cask protects the outer container interior from contamination during the loading process.
2Productivity
If plugs are removed from container cells for loading, then fuel assemblies can be inserted, but plugs may become contaminated and pose a risk to the external environment
Solution Approach 1:
Plugs are extracted from the container cells and transferred into the sealed housing of the transfer cask. This extraction removes the plugs from the potentially contaminated container interior environment and places them into a controlled, sealed space, isolating them from external contamination risks while maintaining loading productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The transfer cask acts as a mediator that receives and secures plugs during the loading operation. Instead of plugs being handled directly in the open environment, the cask provides an intermediate sealed containment that protects both the plugs and the external environment from contamination while enabling efficient loading operations.
3Reliability
If a sealed cask with arm mechanism is used to store plugs, then contamination is prevented, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The transfer cask is designed as a multi-functional device that combines several functions into a single structure: it provides sealed containment for plugs, houses the arm mechanism for plug manipulation, offers radiation shielding through its housing, and enables both plug storage and loading operations. This universality reduces the need for multiple separate devices, thereby limiting the increase in overall system complexity while maintaining high reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the containment function, the manipulation mechanism, and the shielding structure into a single integrated transfer cask. By combining these functions that could otherwise be separate devices, the overall system complexity is minimized while achieving the required confinement protection and operational capability.
Data Source
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AI summary
Cask for loading at least one nuclear fuel bundle into a transport container, with a longitudinal frame (X) that can seal the upper part of a container, with at least one opening (10) to introduce a fuel bundle, at least one input socket for pneumatic sealing and at least one method (56) for regulating a sealing system (58) of one of the container chambers inside the cask and distant from the entry into this chamber during loading, in which the regulating system (56) includes one mobile rotational arm (60) turning around one axis, and a second arm (62) attached to the first arm (60) which rotates in relation to the first arm; said cask also includes external commands for the arms (68,86) with the second arm (62) bearing a chamber (76) into which the sealing system fits.