Patent Number: 053612833
Section: claims

1. In a reconstitutable fuel assembly having an upper end fitting with a plurality of bores therethrough each sized to receive a guide tube assembly and at least one control rod guide tube assembly with the guide tube assembly including an upper end sleeve having a radially extending first shoulder at the lower end for engagement with the lower surface of said upper end fitting, an integral reusable locking arrangement between the guide tube assembly and upper end fitting comprising: a. said upper end sleeve having at least two rigid tabs that extend radially outward;  b. said upper end fitting having a plurality of vertical slots that extend downwardly along a portion of the wall of each bore from the upper end thereof so as to define a second shoulder at the lower end of each of said slots;  c. a cylindrical tube concentric with said upper end sleeve, said cylindrical tube having at least two slots sized to receive said tabs on said upper end sleeve and a plurality of flexible tabs extending outwardly and circumferentially spaced apart substantially at the mid section of said tube such that the tabs at the mid section of said tube are received in said vertical slots in the upper end fitting for engagement with said second shoulders, the lower end surface of said tube being engaged with said first shoulder. 2. The locking arrangement of claim 1, further comprising said cylindrical tube having at least two tooling slots at the upper end. 3. The locking arrangement of claim 1, further comprising said cylindrical tube having a plurality of flexible tabs that extend outwardly and are spaced apart around the circumference of the lower end of said cylindrical tube.