DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 05/15/2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-8, 10, and 12-17 are under examination.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendments negate the 112(f) interpretation.
Applicant’s amendments overcome the prior art rejections which are withdrawn. An updated search was performed, and new prior art rejections are made below.
Applicant’s amendments overcome the 112(b) rejections, which are withdrawn.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims, if the following wording is changed: “when the reactor vessel is upright or on its side” to “when the reactor vessel is upright and when the reactor vessel is on its side.” Based on the interview (see Summary in file 05/05/2026), Examiner believes that the above suggested wording is what Applicant and Examiner had in mind when discussing language. This change simply clarifies that both orientations are positively claimed, and they are not presented as alternatives. Examiner further notes for the record that “a direction” in claim 2 is the same direction whether the reactor vessel is upright or whether the reactor vessel is on its side (i.e., the flow direction is not different when the reactor vessel is upright versus when it is on its side).
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest a reactor having all the structure of claim 1 wherein the water coolant in the first cooling unit flows in a direction away from the ground when the reactor vessel is upright and when the reactor vessel is on its side. The prior art configurations disclose reactors that, if they were turned onto their sides, this flow direction would also change.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code 102 not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1, 8, 10, 12, 16, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhou1 (CN 113990535 B).
Regarding claim 1, Zhou discloses an apparatus for eliminating residual heat of a nuclear reactor, the apparatus comprising: a reactor vessel in which molten salt flows (not pictured but the molten salt reactor’s heated molten salt enters the first heat exchanger 1 through line 37, page 8, second paragraph); a reactor cooler (fig. 1) for cooling the reactor vessel; and a containment case (not pictured, but all nuclear reactors necessarily have a containment that surrounds the reactor and attached cooling systems) for accommodating the reactor vessel and the reactor cooler, wherein the reactor cooler includes: a first cooling unit (e.g., heat exchanger 2) including a heat medium configured to exchange heat with the reactor vessel, and one or more heat dissipation pipes providing passages through which water coolant flows; a second cooling unit (top right of fig. 1) configured to receive the water coolant discharged from the first cooling unit and cool the water coolant through an external fluid (6, 8); and a flow line (3) connected to the first cooling unit and the second cooling unit to provide a passage through which the water coolant flows to circulate between the first cooling unit and the second cooling unit, wherein the second cooling unit is configured such that the water coolant flows into the first cooling unit through the flow line when the reactor vessel is upright (implicit, fig. 1), and wherein the second cooling unit includes one or more heat pipes (e.g., 4, 10, 11, 9) for cooling the water coolant by exchanging heat with the external fluid, wherein the one or more heat pipes includes a plurality of first heat pipes (e.g., 4) and a plurality of second heat pipes (e.g., 10, 11, 9), and wherein the plurality of first heat pipes and the plurality of second heat pipes partially overlap with each other when viewed in a direction perpendicular to a cross section of the containment case (e.g., in a vertical cross-section of fig. 1, the heat pipes 4, 10, 11, 9 overlap each other).
Regarding claim 8, Zhou anticipates all the elements of the parent claim and further discloses wherein the second cooling unit (top right, fig. 1) is configured such that the water coolant (e.g., within pipes 4) in the second cooling unit is cooled by exchanging heat with the external fluid (e.g., 6) and flows within the second cooling unit toward a portion adjacent to the ground (portions of pipes 4 flow downwards, and pipe 5 flows downward).
Regarding claim 10, Zhou anticipates all the elements of the parent claim and further discloses wherein one end of the one or more heat pipes (e.g., 4, 10, 11, 9) is located in an upper portion of the containment case and the other end of the one or more heat pipes (e.g., 4, 10, 11, 9) is located in a lower portion of the containment case adjacent to the ground when the reactor vessel is upright or on its side (as is well-known in the art, the containment vessel will fully surround the entirety of fig. 1, and therefore, one end of the heat pipes will be closer to a lower portion of the containment and the other end closer to an upper portion).
Regarding claim 12, Zhou anticipates all the elements of the parent claim and further discloses wherein the second cooling unit further includes: a fluid tank (e.g., tank around pool 6) in which a fluid is contained; wherein one or more apertures through which vapor flows are formed in the fluid tank (vapor exits the top of pool 6 towards tower 7), and wherein the one or more heat pipes of the second cooling unit is disposed in the fluid tank (e.g. pipes 4 are in tank with pool 6) so that the vapor generated from the fluid flows to the outside of the fluid tank (towards tower 7) through the apertures when the fluid is heated by exchanging heat with the one or more heat pipes (that is how cooling towers 7 work).
Regarding claim 16, Zhou anticipates all the elements of the parent claim and further discloses (see especially fig. 3): a molten salt cooler (1) for cooling the molten salt in the reactor vessel, wherein the molten salt cooler includes: a heat exchanger for cooling the molten salt when the molten salt is discharged from the reactor vessel (molten salt from the reactor vessel leaves the core towards 37 in fig. 3, is cooled, and then exits through outlet 38 to return to the reactor, top and mid-page 8); a discharge channel (37) providing a path through which the molten salt flows from the reactor vessel to the heat exchanger (page 8); and an inlet channel (38) providing a path through which the cooled molten salt flows from the heat exchanger to the reactor vessel (page 8).
Regarding claim 17, Zhou anticipates all the elements of the parent claim and further discloses a circulation pump (as shown in fig. 3) disposed at the inlet channel (38) to flow the cooled molten salt from the heat exchanger to the reactor vessel, wherein the discharge channel is connected to an upper part of the reactor vessel, and the inlet channel is connected to a lower part of the reactor vessel (as described on page 8, the inlet and discharge channels form a salt loop with the reactor vessel, and therefore, said channels are fluidly connected to said reactor vessel).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LILY C GARNER whose telephone number is (571)272-9587. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5 CT.
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LILY CRABTREE GARNER
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3646
/LILY C GARNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3646
1 see attached and highlighted 15-page foreign reference.
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