Patent ID: 8576972

Claim:
A radioisotope production structure for use in a nuclear fuel assembly, the structure comprising: a tie plate attachment shaped to fit below a tie plate in the nuclear fuel assembly in an axial direction, the tie plate attachment defining at least one retention bore, the tie plate attachment fabricated of a material that substantially maintains physical and neutronic properties when exposed to the neutron flux in an operating nuclear reactor; and at least one irradiation target configured to substantially convert to a radioisotope when exposed to a neutron flux in an operating nuclear reactor, the at least one irradiation target being placed in the at least one retention bore such that at least a portion of the at least one irradiation target is embedded inside of the tie plate attachment, wherein the tie plate attachment includes an outer structure and a hollow center, the outer structure being shaped to conform to a shape of an outer channel surrounding the nuclear fuel assembly, and a top face of the outer structure includes the at least one retention bore such that the at least one retention bore does not pass entirely through the outer structure, wherein the outer structure of the tie plate attachment is further shaped with an outer perimeter that corresponds to an outer perimeter of the tie plate.