Spacer with specially fastened springs for fuel assemblies of nuclear reactors

摘要

A spacer for a fuel assembly of a nuclear reactor includes an elongated spring which is held in a mesh in such a way that there is structural freedom with respect to a selection of a shape of the spring and that little spring material is required. Two lateral rims at a top end of the spring are bent around a center of a fuel element out of the mesh in such a way that they protrude through an assembly opening in the web into an adjacent mesh. The two rims approximately form-lockingly encompass an edge of the assembly opening through the use of a profiled section. A lower end of the spring is also correspondingly held on the web through the use of profiled sections on its two rims, which are bent outward. Two springs protruding into adjacent meshes can then also be fastened in the same assembly opening.