Apparatus for cooling a bucket assembly

A bucket assembly cooling apparatus is provided. The bucket assembly includes a platform, an airfoil, and a shank. The airfoil may extend radially outward from the platform. The shank may extend radially inward from the platform. The shank may include a pressure side sidewall, a suction side sidewall, an upstream sidewall, and a downstream sidewall. The sidewalls may at least partially define a cooling circuit. The cooling circuit may be configured to receive a cooling medium and provide the cooling medium to the airfoil. The upstream sidewall may at least partially define an interior cooling passage and at least partially define an exterior ingestion zone. The cooling passage may be configured to provide a portion of the cooling medium from the cooling circuit to the ingestion zone of an adjacent bucket assembly.