Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A nuclear reactor comprising:a reactor pressure vessel;a cylindrical core barrel supported within and spaced from an interior of the reactor pressure vessel and having a central axis substantially coaxially aligned with a central axis of the pressure vessel;a nuclear core comprising a plurality of fuel assemblies forming a fuel assembly array is supported between a lower core plate and an upper core plate, within and spaced from the core barrel;a shroud is supported between the core barrel and the fuel assembly array, having in part an outer contour that substantially matches an inner contour of the core barrel and an inner contour that substantially matches an outer contour of the fuel assembly array and a hollow interior portion;a neutron reflector positioned within the hollow interior portion of the shroud comprising a closely packed array of elongated rods with an elongated dimension extending in the axial direction and;wherein the shroud comprises former plates which extend from an inner surface of the core barrel, in a substantially tandem, parallel array at a plurality of spaced elevations and baffle plates which extend axially between the spaced elevations of the former plates and substantially form the inner contour of the shroud, wherein the elongated rods of the neutron reflector extend axially between the former plates and in between the baffle plates and the core barrel and a number of the former plates at an intermediate elevation comprise two former plates stacked back to back. 2. The nuclear reactor of claim 1 wherein the elongated rods are attached at a first and second end to radially adjacent ones of the elongated rods by the former plates. 3. The nuclear reactor of claim 2 wherein the first and second ends of the elongated rods have a reduced diameter relative to a central axial portion of the elongated rods. 4. The nuclear reactor of claim 3 wherein the reduced diameter of the first and second ends of the elongated rods respectively fit into a corresponding openings in the former plates. 5. The nuclear reactor of claim 4 wherein the elongated rods have a substantially round cross-section and are closely packed to contact each of an adjacent rod along an axial extent around a portion of a circumference of the adjacent rod and to be spaced from the adjacent rod around another portion of the circumference of the adjacent rod to form a coolant channel axially along the another portion of the adjacent rod. 6. The nuclear reactor of claim 5 including flow holes in the former plates that align with the coolant channel. 7. The nuclear reactor of claim 6 wherein a transition between the first and second ends and a central portion of at least some of the elongated rods is formed as a bevel and the diameter of at least some of the flow holes in the former plates adjacent the at least some of the elongated rods with the bevel is larger than the narrowest diameter of the corresponding coolant channels. 8. The nuclear reactor of claim 4 wherein the first and second ends of the elongated rods are respectively attached to the former plates at an edge of the corresponding openings in the former plates. 9. The nuclear reactor of claim 8 wherein the first and second ends of the elongated rods are welded to the former plates at the edge of the corresponding openings in the former plates. 10. The nuclear reactor of claim 8 wherein at least some of the elongated rods at a lower most elevation that extend between some of the former plates are axially aligned with other elongated rods which extend between the former plates at elevations above the elongated rods at the lower most elevation. 11. The nuclear reactor of claim 10 wherein the aligned elongated rods extend between at least five of the tandemly spaced former plates with an upper former plate immediately above the aligned elongated rods and a lower former plate immediately below the aligned elongated rods having one thickness and the number of the former plates in the tandem array at the intermediate elevations that are stacked back to back have a combined thickness of approximately twice the one thickness. 12. The nuclear reactor of claim 1 wherein the neutron reflector comprises a number of axially stacked elongated rod modules with each module comprising a plurality of elongated rod segments supported at opposing ends by a former plate. 13. The nuclear reactor of claim 2 wherein the elongated rods between adjacent former plates form a separable neutron reflector module. 14. The nuclear reactor of claim 1 wherein the elongated rods extend from a lower former plate to an upper former plate wherein the lower former plate is spaced above the lower core support plate on which the fuel assemblies are supported and the upper former plate is spaced from the upper core plate that restrains the fuel assemblies, with the space between the upper core plate and the upper former plate forming an upper coolant plenum having a first orifice in fluid communication with one of either a reactor coolant path on route to traversing the core or a reactor coolant path exiting the reactor core and the space between the lower core support plate and the lower former plate forming a lower coolant plenum having a second orifice in fluid communication with the other of the reactor coolant path on route to traversing the core or the reactor coolant path exiting the reactor core, so that coolant to cool the reflector enters from one of the upper coolant plenum or the lower coolant plenum, passes through the former plates around the elongated rods and into the other of the upper coolant plenum or the lower coolant plenum and exits to rejoin a main coolant flow path. 15. The nuclear reactor of claim 1 wherein the elongated rods are supported on a triangular pitch. 16. The nuclear reactor of claim 1 wherein the elongated rods are supported on a rectangular pitch. 17. The nuclear reactor of claim 1 wherein the former plates are formed in a plurality of circumferential sections extending around the circumference of the core. 18. The nuclear reactor of claim 17 wherein the former plates are formed in at least eight circumferential sections. 19. The nuclear reactor of claim 1 wherein at least some of the elongated rods extend in a continuous extent between a very top and a very bottom former plate. 20. The nuclear reactor of claim 19 wherein not all of the elongated rods extend in the continuous extent between the very top and the very bottom former plates.