{
  "patent_number": "US 11495363",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How a Portable Nuclear Reactor Stays Stable During Operation",
  "original_title": "Small modular mobile fission reactor",
  "summary": "This patent describes a small, portable nuclear fission reactor designed to be moved by ship, train, or truck, featuring a special internal design to keep its fuel and control rods stable and centered during operation.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a \"mobile, graphite-moderated fission reactor\" (Claim 1) that is small enough to be transported by \"ship, train or truck\" (Claim 1). The reactor includes a \"pressure vessel\" that holds an \"active core region\" with \"fuel assemblies\" and \"control systems\" (Claim 1). A key part of the design involves \"flow annulus features\" (Claim 1), which are small structures attached to the inner surface of the cladding (the outer tube) around the fuel rods. These features are placed at different points along the rod's length and are rotationally offset from each other at successive points (Claim 1). This specific arrangement helps keep the fuel rods perfectly centered within their channels, ensuring stable operation by maintaining a consistent gap for coolant flow. For example, such a reactor could be built in a factory, loaded onto a flatbed truck, and driven to a remote location to provide power.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover large, stationary nuclear power plants that are not designed for mobile transport.",
    "Does not cover reactors that are not specifically \"graphite-moderated\" (Claim 1).",
    "Does not cover mobile reactors that lack the specific \"flow annulus features\" for stabilizing fuel and control rods as described in Claim 1.",
    "Does not cover reactors where the \"flow annulus features\" are not rotationally offset at successive longitudinal locations (Claim 1).",
    "Does not cover reactors that are not sized for transport using a \"ship, train or truck\" (Claim 1)."
  ],
  "filed": "2020-05-01",
  "granted": "2022-11-08",
  "expires": "2040-05-01",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "BWXT Advanced Technologies",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/bwxt-advanced-technologies",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Craig D. GRAMLICH",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/craig-d-gramlich"
    },
    {
      "name": "II William E. Russell",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/ii-william-e-russell"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 6,
  "tags": [
    "energy",
    "mechanical",
    "nuclear_power",
    "telecommunications"
  ],
  "abstract": "A mobile modular reactor, in particular, a graphite-moderated fission reactor, has an active core region and at least a portion of control region(s) that are located within an interior volume of a pressure vessel. Flow annulus features located in the flow annulus between an outer surface of the control rod/fuel rod and an inner surface of the cladding of the channel in which the rod is located stabilizes the flow annulus and maintains a reliable concentricity between the inner and outer claddings that envelope the flow annulus. Flow annulus features are equally circumferentially spaced at longitudinally separated locations and the flow annulus features at successive, longitudinally separated locations are rotationally offset relative to each other. For purposes of transportability, the pressure vessel is sized for mobile transport using a ship, train or truck, for example, by fitting within a shipping container.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11495363/small-modular-mobile-fission-reactor",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11495363/small-modular-mobile-fission-reactor/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US11495363",
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}