USA supplier AREVA was recently awarded three patents for employee inventions that were developed to enhance the safe operations of existing nuclear reactors and to recycle a rare material from used control rod assemblies.

“At AREVA, our employees are committed to innovating solutions that sustain and advance the nuclear energy industry,” said Marty Parece, vice president of Products and Technology for AREVA Inc. “By harnessing new ideas and turning them into valuable intellectual property assets, our inventors are producing revolutionary, game-changing innovations that will drive the operational excellence of the reactor fleet.”

Two of the patents address innovations for servicing existing nuclear reactors. AREVA employees Charles Graves and Dave Waskey developed new repair procedures to prevent primary water stress corrosion cracking in both pressurized and boiling water reactors. The second patent, developed by employees Ryan Welsh and Thomas Busic, is an improved permanent seal for the refueling canal in a nuclear facility that will increase safety during outage preparations.

The third patent, which was awarded to employees Brett Matthews and Wesley Davis, is for a concept and associated technology that aids in the retrieval and recycling of rare and valuable silver-indium-cadmium material. With this innovation, operators can safely handle and harvest material for reuse in new control components. This helps reduce nuclear energy waste and the mining of natural resources.