Patent ID: 7773717

Claim:
In a nuclear power plant, a system for aligning a nuclear fuel bundle and handling selected fuel rods within the fuel bundle, the fuel bundle residing in a spent fuel pool within the plant, the fuel bundle having one or more water rods and a plurality of fuel rods including full-length fuel rods and part-length fuel rods, the part-length fuel rods having an upper end plug extending vertically within the bundle through a plurality of axially spaced fuel spacers provided between a top end and bottom end of the fuel bundle, each fuel spacer including a plurality of individual cells accommodating corresponding fuel rods and water rods, the system comprising: a fuel prep machine configured to attach to a wall of the spent fuel pool for supporting the fuel bundle thereon, a bundle alignment assembly attached to the fuel prep machine for aligning fuel rods and water rods within the fuel bundle to remove one or both of any twist or bow present in the fuel bundle, wherein the bundle alignment assembly includes a plurality of axially spaced alignment stations configured to be positioned between the top and bottom ends of the fuel bundle for vertically aligning groups of fuel rods and at least one water rod, wherein each alignment station includes a plurality of alignment blade bundles, each blade bundle including a plurality of metal blades rotatable into the fuel bundle from a disengaged position, in which the blades are substantially vertical and disengaged from the fuel bundle, to an engaged position, in which the blades are substantially horizontal and engaged within the fuel bundle, for vertically aligning groups of fuel rods and at least one water rod, a rod grapple tool for extracting selected part-length rods from within the fuel bundle, and a fuel rod guide block slidable onto the top end of the fuel bundle for protecting an uppermost fuel spacer of the fuel bundle, and for aligning fuel rods within individual cells of all the fuel spacers in the fuel bundle.