DANIEL C GARNER
Engineers in Murrysville, PA

4729868, Mar 8, 1988

Jan 9, 1986

6/817362

James E. Gillett - Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County PA
Daniel C. Garner - Murrysville PA

Westinghouse Electric Corp. - Pittsburgh PA

G21C 101

376285

A vibration arrestor for use in combination with the support structure for the upper ends of rod guides disposed in parallel axial relationship in an inner barrel assembly of a pressurized water reactor vessel, the rod guides being supported between a first, lower plate and a second, upper plate with their respective top ends disposed adjacent the second plate. At least for a selected type of rod guides and associated top plates, apertures provided in the top plates receive therein corresponding extensions which depend from the second plate. Each vibration arrestor comprises a central hub having a central aperature received over the depending extension for each top plate of the selected type and includes at least a pair of spring arms integral with the central hub and extending therefrom in aligned, oppositely oriented directions and depending at corresponding angles therefrom, of a common length sufficient to engage the corresponding extremities thereof on the top plates received on the extensions of the predetermined array thereof aligned with the spring arms and positioned next adjacent the extension on which the central hub is received, the spring arms exerting a compression force on the engaged top plates, within a predetermined range, for resiliently opposing any reduction of the parallel spacing of those top plates from the second plate and for reacting lateral loads tending to displace the engaged top plates in a direction parallel to the second plate.

4687628, Aug 18, 1987

Oct 24, 1986

6/923059

James E. Gillett - Greensburg PA
Daniel C. Garner - Murrysville PA
Donald G. Sherwood - Monroeville PA

Westinghouse Electric Corp. - Pittsburgh PA

G21C 1928

376353

The inner barrel assembly of a pressurized water reactor includes an array of interleaved first and second matrices of respective first and second pluralities of rod guides of corresponding first and second different types, disposed in parallel axial relationship, the bottom ends of the guides being affixed to the top core plate of a lower barrel assembly. A flexible support structure connects the top ends of the rod guides to a lower calandria plate and particularly includes corresponding first and second pluralities of top support plates respectively connected to the rod guides of the first and second different types and having outer peripheries generally corresponding to the respective first and second types of rod guides and inner openings for permitting axial passage therethrough of corresponding, first and second different types of rod clusters. The respective top support plates of the first and second different types have mating, respective exterior and interior vertices for assemblage of same in an array of interdigitated, respective matrices. A flexible linkage is connected between each top plate of the first type and the respective surrounding and contiguous, interdigitated top plates of the second type, thereby interconnecting all of the top plates of the array in a concatenated arrangement.

4517927, May 21, 1985

May 19, 1982

6/379812

James E. Gillett - Greensburg PA
Daniel C. Garner - Murrysville PA
Arthur L. Wineman - Greensburg PA
Robert M. Robey - North Huntingdon PA

The United States of America as represented by the United States
Department of Energy - Washington DC

F22B 3724

122510

Improvements in the design of internal components of J-shaped steam generators for liquid metal fast breeder reactors. Complex design improvements have been made to the internals of J-shaped steam generators which improvements are intended to reduce tube vibration, tube jamming, flow problems in the upper portion of the steam generator, manufacturing complexities in tube spacer attachments, thermal stripping potentials and difficulties in the weld fabrication of certain components.

4849162, Jul 18, 1989

Nov 13, 1984

6/670732

Daniel C. Garner - Murrysville PA
Donald G. Sherwood - Monroeville PA
Albert C. Davidson - Pleasant Hills PA

Westinghouse Electric Corp. - Pittsburgh PA

G21C 500

376458

Modular neutron reflector assemblies removably insertable into the irregular space in a nuclear reactor between a generally cylindrical array of square fuel assemblies comprising the core and the cylindrical core barrel surrounding the core, include an elongated enclosure having a strongback adjacent the core barrel and flat plates adjacent the fuel assemblies. The strongback is thicker than the steel plates by an amount which results in the strongback and plates reaching approximately the same temperature to minimize thermal stresses despite the 8 to 20 times greater nuclear heating at the core side of the enclosure as opposed to that at the core barrel side. The enclosure is suspended by a single point mounting on the core barrel which permits vertical, radial, and circumferential expansion but a pin depending from the lower end of the enclosure slides in a vertical bore in the reactor lower core support plate to limit lateral movement while allowing unrestrained vertical expansion and contraction. A separately removable reflector unit in each enclosure comprises a bundle of closely packed stainless steel circular rods with smaller diameter rods inserted in the interstices between the larger rods to generate a 0. 90-0. 92% volume fraction of stainless steel while also providing a distributed array of small longitudinal passages for reactor coolant.

5267285, Nov 30, 1993

Jun 24, 1992

7/903630

Douglas E. Ekeroth - Delmont PA
Daniel C. Garner - Murrysville PA
Ronald J. Hopkins - Pensacola FL
John T. Land - Pensacola FL

Westinghouse Electric Corp. - Pittsburgh PA

G21C 104

376352

An apparatus and method are provided for suppressing the formation of vortices in circulating coolant fluid of a nuclear reactor. A vortex-suppressing plate having a plurality of openings therein is suspended within the lower plenum of a reactor vessel below and generally parallel to the main core support of the reactor. The plate is positioned so as to intersect vortices which may form in the circulating reactor coolant fluid. The intersection of the plate with such vortices disrupts the rotational flow pattern of the vortices, thereby disrupting the formation thereof.

4716013, Dec 29, 1987

Feb 7, 1986

6/828553

Luciano Veronesi - O'Hara Twp., Alleghany Co. PA
Daniel C. Garner - Murrysville PA

Westinghouse Electric Corp. - Pittsburgh PA

G21C 104

376353

Failure of the control-rod assemblies, particularly the control-rod guides and the WDRC's, by transverse flow of coolant through these members is prevented by directing the flow through a calandria above the guides. To avoid a high pressure drop in the coolant between the calandria and the outlet nozzles, the outlet nozzles are at the same level as the calandria. The calandria has hollow tubes between upper and lower supports. The length of the portion of the tubes between the supports is greater than the diameter of the outlet nozzles.