Patent ID: 7424086
Filing Date: 2008-09-09
Classification: G21C,Y02E

Abstract:
1. A fuel assembly for a pressurized-water nuclear reactor, comprising: a multiplicity of fuel rods; a plurality of spacers mutually spaced-apart axially along said fuel rods, each of said spacers substantially defining a grid plane and forming a square grid with a multiplicity of meshes arranged in rows and columns, said rows including inner rows and said columns including inner columns; a plurality of support tubes respectively guided through said meshes and cohesively joined to said spacers at said meshes, said support tubes not containing fuel; said support tubes being distributed to positions in said grid such that, with a given number of support tubes in said grid, a distribution of said support tubes in said grid does not vary upon a rotation of said grid through 90° about a center axis extending perpendicular to said grid plane of said spacer; and wherein no inner rows and inner columns without said support tubes adjoin one another; the number of rows having no said support tubes being minimal and the number of columns having no said support tubes being minimal.