Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A method to load a nuclear fuel rod, comprising:providing an apparatus for loading the nuclear fuel rod, the apparatus comprising:a fuel plate transfer unit, having an underside, the underside having openings for nuclear fuel pellets;an interfacing surface on which nuclear fuel pellets in the openings of the underside of the fuel plate transfer unit can roll; anda rotational belt positioned to accept nuclear fuel pellets that fall from the interfacing surface and the underside of the fuel plate transfer unit, the rotational belt positioned to transfer the nuclear fuel pellets into a fuel rod cladding open on both ends;providing nuclear fuel pellets housed in the openings in the underside of the fuel plate transfer unit, wherein the openings are sized to allow the nuclear fuel pellets to roll along the interfacing surface while keeping the nuclear fuel pellets from interacting with one another;transferring the nuclear fuel pellets from the fuel plate transfer unit in a fuel pellet column onto the rotational belt;indexing the nuclear fuel pellets in the fuel pellet column to a nuclear fuel pellet loading machine; andtransferring the fuel pellet column from the rotational belt into the fuel rod cladding. 2. The method to load a nuclear fuel rod according to claim 1, wherein the transferring of the nuclear fuel pellets from the fuel plate transfer unit to the rotational belt is through a slot in the interfacing surface. 3. The method to load a nuclear fuel rod according to claim 1, wherein the openings and the interfacing surface are configured as smooth surfaces. 4. The method to load a nuclear fuel rod according to claim 1, wherein the transferring of the nuclear fuel pellets from the fuel plate transfer unit to the rotational belt is by indexing a row of the fuel pellets in the fuel plate transfer unit over a slot in the interfacing surface over the rotational belt, and transferring the column of fuel pellets onto the rotational belt through the slot in the interfacing surface. 5. The method to load a nuclear fuel rod according to claim 1, wherein the transferring of the nuclear fuel pellets from the rotational belt into the fuel rod cladding is through a fuel element transfer apparatus. 6. The method to load a nuclear fuel rod according to claim 1, further comprising:verifying a length of the fuel pellet column after the step of indexing the nuclear fuel pellets in the fuel pellet column to a nuclear fuel pellet loading machine. 7. The method to load a nuclear fuel rod according to claim 1, further comprising: welding a lower end plug on the lower end of the cladding. 8. The method to load a nuclear fuel rod according to claim 7, further comprising: welding a top end cap on the top end of the cladding.