ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,315,646, issued on May 27, was assigned to Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC (Cranberry Township, Pa.).
"Fuel assembly arrangement for retaining fuel rod end plug to bottom nozzle" was invented by Jeffrey M. McCarty (Cayce, S.C.), Nathan J. Payne (West Columbia, S.C.) and Kirkland D. Broach (Lexington, S.C.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A nuclear reactor assembly may include a fuel rod and an end plug extending from the fuel rod The end plug may include a first engagement surface and a second engagement surface. The second engagement surface may have a circular groove disposed in an exterior surface of the end plug, the circular groove defi...