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REACTOR FUEL ASSEMBLIES

Both boiling water reactor and pressurized water reactor fuel assemblies consist of the same major components.  These major components are the fuel rods, the spacer grids, and the upper and lower end fittings.  The fuel assembly drawing on page 1-11 shows these major components (pressurized water reactor fuel assembly). The fuel rods contain the ceramic fuel pellets.  The fuel rods are approximately 12 feet long and contain a space at the top for the collection of any gases that are produced by the fission process.  These rods are arranged in a square matrix ranging from 17 x 17 for pressurized water reactors to 8 x 8 for boiling water reactors. The spacer grids separate the individual rods with pieces of sprung metal.  This provides the rigidity of the assemblies and allows the coolant to flow freely up through the assemblies and around the fuel rods. Some spacer grids may have flow mixing vanes that are used to promote mixing of the coolant as it f...
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The World and Nuclear Fission

Purely as a physical phenomenon nuclear fission offers ample scope for intellectual problem-solving. If it implied nothing further it could be left to those specialists who might find satisfaction in its intellectual challenge; the rest of us could busy ourselves with other more pressing concerns. Unfortunately, nuclear fission  - as everyone knows  - implies much more than abstruse mathematical argument and donnish hairsplitting. Almost from the time it was first recognized, in 1938, nuclear fission has implied not merely articles in learned journals but major decisions of public policy. The social, economic and political context of nuclear fission has been from the beginning an essential factor in its development; in turn, it has exerted an extraordinary range of social, economic and political influence. To foresee with any clarity the shape of the nuclear future, a historical perspective is imperative. It is necessary to know not only how nuclear fission occurs,...
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Night time in St Barts

It is slowly picking up here, meaning that it is the end of the (s)low season, places are opening up again and more and more people are coming back to the island. We enjoyed a great meal by the harbour last night and discussed some plans for the following weeks and months of sailing towards South America, further out into the Pacific ocean and French Polynesia and eventually onto South East Asia. Things look brighter than ever before and with the newly refitted boat, many fabulous projects on the horizon and more energy and excitement than in a long while, we have a lot to look forward to in the nearest future. 
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