Patent Number: 047537744
Section: claims

1. A nuclear reactor fuel assembly comprising a bundle of elongated fuel rods disposed in side-by-side relationship so as to form an array of spaced fuel rods, a tubular flow channel member surrounding said fuel rods so as to direct flow of coolant/moderator fluid along said fuel rods, respective upper and lower tie plates at opposite ends of said fuel rods, and a hollow water cross having confronting side walls and a closed lower end wall at an inlet end thereof, said water cross extending centrally through and disposed within said flow channel member so as to provide within said flow channel member separate compartments and to divide said bundle of fuel rods into a plurality of mini-bundles being disposed in said respective compartments, said water cross including inlet cross flow means formed in said side walls near a lower end of said water cross above said closed end wall and near lower end portions of each of said mini-bundles of fuel rods, which inlet cross flow means provides both selected flow communication into the interior of said water cross and flow communication between said respective mini-bundles for minimizing maldistribution and equalizing flow therebetween. 2. The fuel assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein said inlet cross flow means is in the form of opposed, axially aligned side entry holes in said water cross. 3. The fuel assembly as recited in claim 2, wherein said holes are located within a few centimeters above the lower tie plate. 4. The fuel assembly as recited in claim 3, wherein said water cross has outlets of a predetermined area and said inlet cross flow means has an area greater than said outlet area. 5. A nuclear reactor fuel assembly comprising a bundle of elongated fuel rods disposed in side-by-side relationship so as to form an array of spaced fuel rods, a tubular flow channel member surrounding said fuel rods so as to direct flow of coolant/moderator fluid along said fuel rods, a hollow water cross extending centrally through said flow channel member, said water cross having opposed side walls, a closed end wall at a lower flow inlet end and an opposite upper flow outlet end, and being interconnected with said flow channel member so as to divide said flow channel member into separate compartments and said bundle of fuel rods into a plurality of mini-bundles, a pair of lower and upper tie plates connected to the opposite ends of said fuel rods in each mini-bundle so as to provide a separate fuel rod subassembly in each of said compartments, said lower and upper tie plates having flow openings defined therethrough for allowing the flow of said coolant/moderator fluid respectively into and from said separate fuel rod subassembly, and inlet cross flow means located near said inlet end of said water cross and formed in said side walls at an elevation spaced above said lower tie plate so as to provide flow into the interior of said water cross and to provide cross flow between said respective mini-bundles of fuel rods to thereby minimize maldistribution of flow therebetween. 6. The fuel assembly as recited in claim 5, wherein each of said fuel rod subassemblies includes a plurality of axially spaced grids for maintaining said fuel rods of its mini-bundle thereof in side-by-side spaced relationship, said inlet cross flow means being located at an axial height less than the axial distance from said lower tie plate to said lowermost one of said axially spaced grids of said each fuel rod subassembly. 7. The fuel assembly as recited in claim 5, wherein said inlet cross flow means includes opposed axially aligned holes in opposed walls of said water cross. 8. The fuel assembly as recited in claim 5, wherein said holes are located within several centimeters above the lower tie plate. 9. A nuclear reactor fuel assembly comprising a plurality of elongated fuel rods disposed in side-by-side relationship so as to form an array of spaced fuel rods, a tubular flow channel member surrounding said fuel rods so as to direct flow of coolant/moderator fluid along said fuel rods, and a hollow water cross extending through said outer flow channel and having a plurality of panels extending radially from a central axis thereof, said panels being composed of respective pairs of spaced-apart, opposed confronting sheet members interconnected together so as to define an open inner cruciform flow channel for subcooled moderator fluid flow through said fuel assembly and disposed within said tubular flow channel member so as to divide said array of fuel rods into a plurality of fuel rod subassemblies, said water cross having a top end wall formed with outlets of a selected total area, a closed bottom end wall, and opposed inlet holes formed in said sheet members of said water cross near said closed end wall and said lower ends of said fuel rod subassemblies for supplying flow of said subcooled moderator into the interior of said water cross and for supplying cross flow between the subassemblies for minimizing maldistribution therebetween, said inlet holes being of a total area greater than the total area of said outlets for creating positive pressure of the coolant/moderator fluid in said water cross. 10. The fuel assembly as recited in claim 9, wherein opposed holes in each of said opposed confronting sheet members of said water cross are axially aligned. 11. The fuel assembly as recited in claim 9, wherein all of said opposed holes are at substantially the same elevation above the lower inlet of said water cross.