Patents by Inventor Alvin E. Smith

Alvin E. Smith has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 4018697
    Abstract: Nuclear fuel is employed for a first cycle in a light water reactor and thereafter subjected to reprocessing for the removal of fission products, for the removal of higher actinides, for the recovery of plutonium, and for the recovery of uranium. Such recovered uranium includes about 0.1 to about 0.7 per cent uranium 236. Higher concentrations of U-236 in subsequent cycles are plausible. The difficulties attributable to the U-236 isotope are managed by separately enriching the recovered uranium to provide an upgraded fraction containing from about 1.0 to about 3 per cent U-235. From 30 to 60 per cent of U-236 initially present can be shifted to the tails fraction, with only about 40 to about 70 per cent of the U-236 in the enriched fraction. The U-236 tends to follow the U-235 in the enrichment step so that the U-236 concentration (as distinguished from distribution of total U-236) in the upgraded fraction is greater than initially.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 1975
    Date of Patent: April 19, 1977
    Assignee: Atlantic Richfield Company
    Inventor: Alvin E. Smith