A fuel spacer for a nuclear fuel bundle

摘要

A spacer (18) for a nuclear fuel assembly includes dividers (50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62, 64) orthogonally interdigitated relative to one another defining fuel and water rod cells (22). The dividers defining fuel rod cells have openings (70) carrying an integrally formed spring (28) which projects into the fuel cell to bear the fuel rod in the cell against an opposite stop (32) carried by an opposing divider. The dividers are arranged in a 10x10 array with diagonally opposing quadrants being mirror images of one another. The dividers are surrounded by a peripheral band (24) with integrally formed stops (34) projecting into the peripheral cells enclosing the spacer.