A support for the samples to be irradiated, which may be incorporated in the channels of the experiment of nuclear reactors, advantageously of research reactors, which have the fuel elements to the central channel of exposure to receive the sample

摘要

934,343. Nuclear reactors. EUROPEAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITY, EURATOM. July 11, 1962 [July 20, 1961], No. 26739/62. Class 39 (4). A support for a specimen to be irradiated in a channel in a nuclear reactor comprises a specimen tube for insertion into the channel and provided with means for locating a speciment within it, means for circulating a coolant within the tube, a base at one end of the tube adapted to support one end of a tubular fuel element surrounding the tube, an abutment for supporting the other end of the fuel element, and means for resiliently supporting the fuel element between the base and the abutment. Figs. 4 and 5 show middle and lower longitudinal sections of a specimen tube 2 arranged in an experimental channel 9 of a nuclear reactor. A guide tube 24 is arranged coaxially inside tube 2 and at its lower end joins a ribbed tubular body 3 containing the specimen 1 so that coolant fluid can circulate downwards between tubes 2 and 24 and then upwards over the specimen and through tube 24 to an outlet (not shown). The. specimen 1 comprises a stack of plates of square cross-section which are located by longitudinal notches provided in the cylindrical body 3. The body 3, which may be of graphite, is surrounded by a heating coil 4 and is provided with transverse bores (not shown in Fig. 5), adapted to receive thermocouples. The body 3 rests on a plate 5 which is resiliently supported by a spring 40 seating on a plug 41 welded to the lower end of the tube 2. The specimen 1 is supported by a spring 42 through a support pin 43 so that the specimen can move relative to the body 3. The lower end of plug 41 is coupled by means of a bayonet fastening (not shown in Fig. 5) to a support 53 for fuel plates 55 which surround part of the tube 2. An upper support 10 for the fuel plates surrounds the tube 2 and is urged downwards by a spring.