Fuel assembly having concentric lower coolant inlet tubes

A fuel assembly configured to be positioned in a nuclear water reactor, comprising:

• an upstream minor portion defining an upstream end,
• a downstream minor portion defining a downstream end,
• a main portion connecting the upstream minor portion and the downstream minor portion,
• a plurality of elongated fuel rods arranged in parallel with a longitudinal axis extending through the upstream end and the downstream end,
• a flow interspace between the upstream end and the downstream end, the flow interspace being configured to permit a flow of coolant through the fuel assembly along a flow direction from the upstream end to the downstream end in contact with the fuel rods, and
• at least one elongated tube forming an internal passage extending through the main portion in parallel with the fuel rods and permitting a stream of the coolant through the internal passage,
• wherein the elongated tube comprises a bottom, an inlet to the internal passage at the upstream minor portion and an outlet from the internal passage at the downstream minor portion,
• wherein:
• the elongated tube comprises an inlet pipe positioned partially in the elongated tube, the inlet pipe forming the inlet to the elongated tube,
• the inlet pipe having an inlet end and an outlet end,
• the outlet end of the inlet pipe is located inside the internal passage at a distance of at least 0.2 m downstream from the bottom and at most 1 m downstream from the bottom, wherein the inlet pipe extends no more than 33% up into the elongated tube thereby forming a space in the internal passage between the outlet end of the inlet pipe and the bottom, a length of the inlet pipe configured to capture debris from the stream of coolant in the space in the internal passage between the outlet end of the inlet pipe and the bottom.