IPC Main Group
G21C 3/00 Reactor fuel elements or their assemblies; Selection of substances for use as reactor fuel elements
Introduced: September 1968
Last revised: January 2006
Classification Context
- Section:
- PHYSICS
- Class:
- NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
- Subclass:
- NUCLEAR REACTORS
Filing statistics
IPC G21C 3/00 belongs to the parent subclass G21C, which recorded 29,798 patent applications worldwide between 2013 and 2023. Annual filings declined from 2,773 in 2013 to 2,661 in 2023 (-4%), peaking at 3,001 applications in 2021. The most active applicants in class G21 are CHINA GENERAL NUCLEAR POWER CORPORATION (2,364 applications), CGN POWER COMPANY (1,899 applications) and CHINA NUCLEAR POWER ENGINEERING COMPANY (1,870 applications).
Source: EPO PATSTAT, worldwide filings
Related Keywords
CANNING of nuclear fuelCASING(S) for fuel elements of nuclear reactorsnuclear FUEL(S) elements for reactors
5 direct subcodes
Child Classifications
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- G21C 3/02 Fuel elements
- G21C 3/3 Assemblies of a number of fuel elements in the form of a rigid unit
- G21C 3/38 Fuel units consisting of a single fuel element in a supporting sleeve
- G21C 3/4 Structural combination of fuel element with thermoelectric element for direct production of electric energy from fission heat
- G21C 3/42 Selection of substances for use as reactor fuel
Top Applicants
Top 10 applicants by patent filingsfor class G21, 2013–2023, worldwide · Source: EPO PATSTAT
- CHINA GENERAL NUCLEAR POWER CORPORATION 2,364
- CGN POWER COMPANY 1,899
- CHINA NUCLEAR POWER ENGINEERING COMPANY 1,870
- NUCLEAR POWER INSTITUTE OF CHINA 1,517
- KOREA ATOMIC ENERGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE KR 1,367
- WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORPORATION US 1,295
- KOREA HYDRO & NUCLEAR POWER COMPANY KR 1,196
- CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 1,044
- CHINA INSTITUTE OF ATOMIC ENERGY 1,011
- HITACHI-GE NUCLEAR ENERGY 955