Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A method of refueling a nuclear steam supply system having a nuclear reactor primary coolant loop enclosed within a hermetically sealed containment wherein the containment comprises a nuclear reactor vessel for supporting and housing a plurality of nuclear fuel assemblies within a core, the nuclear reactor vessel being supported within the containment as part of the nuclear reactor primary coolant loop; a refueling cavity extending above the nuclear reactor vessel within the containment; an in-containment refueling coolant storage tank supported within the containment outside the refueling cavity at an elevation above the core for, upon command, flooding at least a portion of the refueling cavity with a refueling coolant in furtherance of refueling the reactor vessel, the in-containment refueling coolant storage tank having a full level substantially at which a volume of the refueling coolant is maintained during normal reactor operation; and an irradiated nuclear fuel assembly storage tank supported within the containment below a portion of the refueling cavity, the irradiated nuclear fuel assembly storage tank is configured with fuel assembly storage racks for storing irradiated nuclear fuel within the containment outside the core when the reactor vessel is in operation and the refueling cavity is drained, and the irradiated nuclear fuel assembly storage tank is configured to selectively place a nuclear fuel assembly storage tank coolant conduit, connected to the irradiated nuclear fuel assembly storage tank, in fluid communication with the in-containment refueling coolant storage tank or the refueling cavity; the method comprising:flooding the refueling cavity with the coolant from the refueling coolant storage tank;removing a head from the reactor vessel;opening a lid on the irradiated nuclear fuel assembly storage tank;removing at least some of the fuel assemblies from the core into the irradiated nuclear fuel assembly storage tank;closing the lid on the irradiated fuel assembly storage tank;loading a number of new fuel assemblies into the core;closing the head on the reactor vessel;draining the refueling cavity into the in-containment refueling coolant storage tank; andstarting up the reactor with the at least some of the fuel assemblies removed from the core stored in the irradiated nuclear fuel assembly storage tank. 2. The method of claim 1 including the steps of:configuring the irradiated nuclear fuel assembly storage tank coolant conduit in fluid communication with the refueling cavity after the refueling cavity is flooded; andconfiguring the irradiated nuclear fuel assembly storage tank coolant conduit in fluid communication with the in-containment refueling coolant storage tank after the refueling cavity is drained. 3. The method of claim 1 including the steps of:operating the nuclear steam supply system for an operating cycle;shutting down the reactor vessel;flooding the refueling cavity with the coolant from the refueling coolant storage tank;removing a head from the reactor vessel;opening a lid on the irradiated nuclear fuel assembly storage tank;moving at least some of the fuel assemblies within the irradiated fuel assembly storage tank to a spent fuel pool outside the containment;removing at least some of the fuel assemblies from the core into the irradiated nuclear fuel assembly storage tank;closing the lid on the irradiated fuel assembly storage tank;loading a number of new fuel assemblies into the core;closing the head on the reactor vessel;draining the refueling cavity into the in-containment refueling coolant storage tank; andstarting up the reactor with the at least some of the fuel assemblies removed from the core stored in the irradiated nuclear fuel assembly storage tank. 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the irradiated nuclear fuel assembly storage tank includes a long-term nuclear fuel assembly storage tank and a short-term nuclear fuel assembly storage tank that are each configured to separately store fuel assemblies and wherein the step of removing at least some of the fuel assemblies from the core into the irradiated nuclear fuel assembly storage tank includes the steps of:identifying the fuel assemblies within the core that are not to be returned to the core;removing at least some of the fuel assemblies in the core that are not to be returned to the core to the long-term nuclear fuel assembly storage tank; andremoving at least some of the fuel assemblies in the core that are to be returned to the core to the short-term nuclear fuel assembly storage tank. 5. The method of claim 4 wherein the short-term nuclear fuel assembly storage tank includes a fuel assembly rack having compartments with each compartment having an opening into which one of the fuel assemblies can be loaded, with each compartment having a separate cover which can be individually moved to an open or closed position, including the step of:opening only one cover at a time with the remaining covers closed as the fuel assembly is loaded into the corresponding compartment. 6. The method of claim 4 wherein the reactor vessel has a lower internals and the long-term nuclear fuel assembly storage tank has a lid with a removable lower internals storage stand that fits on top of the lid, including the steps of:fitting the lower internals storage stand to the lid after the fuel assemblies that are not to be returned to the reactor vessel are loaded into the long-term nuclear fuel assembly storage tank;removing the lower internals from the reactor vessel after all of the fuel assemblies have been removed from the core; andplacing the lower internals into the removable lower internals storage stand. 7. The method of claim 6 including the steps of:replacing the lower internals into the reactor vessel; andremoving the lower internals storage stand from the lid before opening the lid. 8. The method of claim 1 including the step of cooling the irradiated nuclear fuel assembly storage tank by natural circulation of the coolant through the irradiated nuclear fuel assembly storage tank. 9. The method of claim 8 wherein the coolant cooling the irradiated nuclear fuel assembly storage tank is either circulated through the in-containment refueling coolant storage tank or through the refueling cavity.