DETAILED ACTION
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 09/08/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1-7 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reyes, JR et al. (US 2009/0129531).
The combination is summarized as follows:
Reyes discloses various embodiments, including an embodiment described as a dry containment region 44, i.e., between the reactor vessel 52 and the containment vessel 54, that includes gas and/or air (para. 31); an embodiment where there is no release of liquid coolant 100 from the reactor vessel 52 even during an emergency operation (para. 36); and an embodiment described as an emergency state of the system, where coolant 100B is released into the otherwise dry containment region 44 (para. 34) from the reactor vessel 52 via a flow limiter 58 (para. 35), where the coolant 100B provides the benefit of passive decay heat removal (para. 37) via liquid convection and conduction heat transfer from the reactor vessel 52, to the inner surface 55 of the containment vessel 54, to the pool of liquid 16 (para. 36). Plainly, although the prior art explicitly discloses that the containment region 44 is dry (e.g. containing gas or vacuum), the prior art also discloses 1. the system is designed to function with a liquid coolant within region 44, as shown in fig. 3, and that 2. the system is functional even without the flow limiter 58 shown in figs. 2-3 which vents coolant 100B from inside the reactor vessel 52. Therefore, an ordinary practitioner would immediately recognize that the system of the prior art would still function to remove decay heat if the embodiments were combined such that the containment region 44 of figure 2 was filled with the coolant 100B of figure 3, without the shown flow limiter 58.
Following from the above discussion, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the time of effective filing to combine the embodiments of Reyes to arrive at the claimed invention, as explicitly mapped below, for the expected benefit of providing passive decay heat removal via liquid convection and conduction heat transfer. Further, even in absence of an express motivation to combine the various embodiments of the prior art, the combination, as mapped below, would have been obvious to an ordinary practitioner since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.1
Regarding the claims, the combined embodiments of the prior art suggests the following:
1. (Currently amended) A nuclear reactor module comprising: a containment vessel (54); a reactor vessel (52) contained in (fig. 2 and/or fig. 3) the containment vessel (54), the reactor vessel (52) comprising a primary circuit with a primary fluid (100A), and a reactor core (6) contained in the reactor vessel (52) and being cooled by the primary fluid (100A), wherein an intermediate volume (44) is formed between the containment vessel (54) and the reactor vessel (52), which intermediate volume (44) is partially filled (fig. 3, as used in the combination, shows coolant 100B within the containment region 44) with an intermediate fluid (100B), which is water (water, para. 36) and which is in direct heat conducting contact with the reactor vessel (54), and wherein the circulation of the primary fluid is permanently separated from the intermediate volume (by para. 36, the embodiment as used in the combination includes no release of liquid coolant 100 from reactor vessel 52 even during an emergency operation).
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2. (Previously presented) The nuclear reactor module according to claim 1, wherein the reactor vessel is configured to prevent all fluid flow between the reactor vessel and the containment vessel (embodiment of para. 36, as combined).
3. (Previously presented) The nuclear reactor module according to claim 1, wherein the reactor vessel is made of steel (steel, para. 26).
4. (Previously presented) The nuclear reactor module according to claim 1, wherein passive removal of decay heat is not reliant on forced circulation of the primary fluid or actuation mechanical components (passive decay heat removal, para. 37).
5. (Previously presented) The nuclear reactor module according to claim 1, wherein the primary fluid (100A, i.e. 100) is water (para. 36).
6. (Currently amended) The nuclear reactor module according to claim 1, wherein the nuclear reactor module comprises a passive decay heat removal system (paras. 36-37) provided by a heat conductive passageway between the reactor core (6) and the asurrounding ambient or heat sink (16), when the intermediate fluid (100B) is brought to its boiling point (conditional limitation which remains true by at least para. 36).
7. (Currently amended) A nuclear district heating reactor comprising a nuclear reactor module, wherein the nuclear reactor module comprises: - a containment vessel; - a reactor vessel contained in the containment vessel, the reactor vessel comprising a primary circuit) with a primary fluid, and - a reactor core contained in the reactor vessel and being cooled by the primary fluid, wherein an intermediate volume is formed between the containment vessel and the reactor vessel, which intermediate volume is partially filled with an intermediate fluid, which is water and which is in direct heat conducting contact with the reactor vessel, and wherein the circulation of the primary fluid is permanently separated from the intermediate volume.
15. (New) The nuclear reactor module according to claim 1, wherein the nuclear reactor module comprises a passive decay heat removal system (paras. 36-37) configured to transfer heat (i.e., via conduction and/or convection) from the primary fluid (100A) to the internediate fluid (100B).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reyes, JR et al. (US 2009/0129531), in view of Kato et al. (US 5,316,597).
Regarding claim 14, Reyes discloses the following:
14. (Previously presented) The nuclear reactor module according to claim 1, wherein the reactor vessel is made of steel (para. 26).
Reyes does not disclose austenitic steel.
Kato teaches a nuclear reactor vessel made of an austenitic stainless steel (e.g., at least claims 1-2), which provides the expected benefit of higher safety (col. 9, lines 27-52) and/or prolonged lifetime of the equipment (col. 12, lines 12-21). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the time of effective filing to use the austenitic steel as taught by Kato for the reactor vessel of Reyes, for the expected advantage of higher safety and/or prolonged lifetime of the equipment.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to T. S. FIX whose telephone number is (571)272-8535. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 10a-3p.
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/T. SCOTT FIX/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618
1 KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007)
