Claims
- 1. A thimble for use in head-mounted instrumentation for nuclear reactors, said thimble retractably disposed in a removable head of a nuclear reactor vessel and comprising a sheath and a mandrel disposed within the sheath, the sheath and the mandrel both comprised of an alloy of a metal selected from the group consisting of zirconium and titanium, the sheath forming a pressure boundary in the reactor vessel.
- 2. The thimble of claim 1, characterized in that said metal comprises at least 95% of said alloy.
- 3. The thimble of claim 1, characterized in that said alloy is a ZIRCALOY alloy.
- 4. The thimble of claim 1, characterized in that the alloy is a ZIRCALOY-4 alloy.
- 5. A thimble arrangement for a nuclear reactor vessel, said thimble arrangement being mounted to the head of said reactor vessel and passing therethrough into the core of said reactor vessel, said thimble arrangement comprising a thimble sheath surrounding a thimble mandrel, said sheath and mandrel both being fabricated of an alloy of a metal selected from the group consisting of zirconium and titanium, the sheath forming a pressure boundary of the reactor vessel.
- 6. The thimble arrangement of claim 5, characterized in that said metal comprises at least 95% of said alloy.
- 7. The thimble arrangement of claim 5, characterized in that said alloy is a ZIRCALOY alloy.
- 8. The thimble arrangement of claim 5, characterized in that said alloy is a ZIRCALOY-4 alloy.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/903,631 filed Jun. 24, 1991, now abandoned.
GOVERNMENT CONTRACT
The Government of the United States of America has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. DE-ACO3-90SF18495 awarded by the Department of Energy.
US Referenced Citations (12)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0084171 |
Jul 1983 |
EPX |
0938594 |
Oct 1963 |
GBX |
1517497 |
Jul 1978 |
GBX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
Lamarsh, Introduction to Nuclear Engineering, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., Dec. 1977, pp. 42-46, 592-595. |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
903631 |
Jun 1992 |
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