Apparatus for protecting fuel rods during loading.

摘要

An apparatus 34 for protecting nuclear fuel rods 12 from scratching during their loading through spacer grid cells 24 of a fuel bundle 10 includes a handle 36 having at least one elongate clip 38 joined thereto, and a flexible tubular protective sleeve 40 joined to the clip 38. The clip 38 rigidly supports the sleeve 40 along its longitudinal axis while allowing the sleeve 40 to unfurl perpendicularly thereto for disassembly from a fuel rod 12. In several embodiments of the invention, the clip 38 may include a slot 44 for bridging adjacent grid cells 24 during assembly, or the clip 38 may be removably fixedly joined to the handle for allowing easy replacement of the sleeves 40.