Patents
US 12444514 B2: Calibration of power monitors in molten salt reactors
- Granted
- 2025-10-14
- Filed
- 2024-08-06 application 18795873
- Type
- Utility · 10 claims
- Elsewhere
- Google Patents ↗ · USPTO patent document ↗ · USPTO Patent Center record ↗
Abstract
A method and system for calibrating nuclear instrumentation of a reactor is disclosed. The system comprises a reactor configured to operate at a low power level and an external heater configured to heat the reactor to its operating temperature and maintain the reactor in a critical state. The reactor maintains its temperature at a steady state by repeating steps of reducing the heater's power and increasing the reactor's power by changing one or more reactivity settings, wherein the reduced heater's power is compensated by using the increased power generated by the reactor itself. The nuclear instrumentation is configured to measure the reactor's output power and compare it with the calculated reactor's power. Based on the discrepancy between the calculated power and the measured power exceeds a threshold; and the nuclear instrumentation is appropriately calibrated by adjusting one or more settings.
Source: PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 (ipg251014.xml).
Assignees
| Assignee | Type | Place | Also on furp.org | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abilene Christian University 16 patents | US company or organization | Abilene, TX | Abilene Christian University College or university EXACT high confidence: identical full name and state ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY Federal lobbying client EXACT high confidence: identical full name and state ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY Nonprofit EXACT high confidence: identical full name and state | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORPORATION 1,417 patents | US company or organization | Atlanta, GA | GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORPORATION State business registration EXACT high confidence: identical full name and state GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORPORATION Nonprofit EXACT high confidence: identical full name and state | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| THE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM 801 patents | US company or organization | College Station, TX | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| BOARD OF REGENTS, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM 3,356 patents | US company or organization | Austin, TX | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Inventors
| Inventor | Place | Patents | Person page | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan T. Kelly | College Station, TX | 15 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Steven Biegalski | Atlanta, GA | 2 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Ryan Brownfield | College Station, TX | 1 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Kraig Farrar | College Station, TX | 1 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Jonathan Tyler Gates | College Station, TX | 1 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Derek Haas | Austin, TX | 10 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Jonathan Scherr | Abilene, TX | 2 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Jack Shoemate | Abilene, TX | 2 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Pavel Tsvetkov | College Station, TX | 8 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
CPC categories
| Subclass | Category | First group | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| G21C | Nuclear reactors | G21C17/108 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| G21D | Nuclear power plant | G21D3/001 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| Y02E | Reduction of greenhouse gas [ghg] emissions, related to energy generation, transmission or distribution | Y02E30/30 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Cooperative Patent Classification, as currently assigned (one row per subclass).
Assignments and security interests
| Recorded | What | From | To | Reel/frame | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-08-07 | Assignment Assignment of assignor's interest | SCHERR, JONATHAN signed 2023-08-08 SHOEMATE, JACK signed 2023-08-07 | ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY ABILENE, TX | 68205/924 | PASDL, file of 2026-10-15 |
| 2024-08-07 | Assignment Assignment of assignor's interest | BIEGALSKI, STEVEN signed 2023-11-11 | GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORPORATION ATLANTA, GA | 68205/868 | PASDL, file of 2026-10-15 |
| 2024-08-07 | Assignment Assignment of assignor's interest | HAAS, DEREK signed 2023-08-08 | BOARD OF REGENTS, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM AUSTIN, TX | 68205/668 | PASDL, file of 2026-10-15 |
| 2024-08-07 | Assignment Assignment of assignor's interest | KELLY, RYAN signed 2024-04-17 TSVETKOV, PAVEL signed 2024-04-17 BROWNFIELD, RYAN signed 2024-04-12 FARRAR, KRAIG signed 2024-04-10 | THE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM COLLEGE STATION, TX | 68205/550 | PASDL, file of 2026-10-15 |
| 2024-08-07 | Assignment Assignment of assignor's interest | GATES, TYLER signed 2024-04-26 | THE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM COLLEGE STATION, TX | 68205/435 | PASDL, file of 2026-10-15 |
Documents recorded with the USPTO Assignment Recordation Branch that list this patent. A security interest is a lender’s claim on the patent as collateral; a release ends it.
USPTO bulk data: PatentsView granted patents, disambiguated (PVGPATDIS) for patents, assignees, inventors, places and CPC categories; the USPTO Patent Assignment Dataset (ECORSEXC) for assignments and security interests. Patents filed in the last 20 years. No claims or full text. Links to other records are by name (and state): EXACT means the identical full name and state; FUZZY means a looser name match, with the confidence shown.