Terminal end-piece for a fuel assembly having an arrangement for maintaining the ends of the rods and corresponding assembly

A terminal end-piece for a fuel assembly of a nuclear reactor, the assembly comprising fuel rods and a skeleton for supporting the fuel rods, the fuel rods extending in a longitudinal direction and being arranged at nodes of a substantially regular network, the support skeleton comprising two terminal end-pieces and elements for connecting the terminal end-pieces, the fuel rods being arranged longitudinally between the terminal end-pieces, comprising:

• an arrangement for laterally maintaining the adjacent longitudinal ends of substantially all the fuel rods, the arrangement configured at nodes of the substantially regular network, wherein the maintenance arrangement constitutes an arrangement for longitudinally securing the adjacent longitudinal ends of the fuel rods relative to the terminal end-piece, and wherein the end-piece comprises two components for longitudinally clamping between the end pieces the adjacent longitudinal ends of the fuel rods.