Gripping means for fuel assemblies of nuclear reactor

A gripping means for fuel assemblies of a nuclear reactor, which have heads of the type that includes a cylindrical portion conjugated with a contact surface, an internal cavity and at least one aperture for passage of a cooling medium into said internal cavity, which aperture is provided in said cylindrical portion of the fuel assembly head, comprising:

• a housing having an outer surface;
• a sealing member secured on said outer surface of said housing;
• a slider accomodated in said housing and adapted for motion relative to said housing;
• first apertures for passage of said cooling medium, provided in said housing;
• second apertures for passage of said cooling medium, provided in said housing;
• a cavity provided in the body of said slider and intended for passage of said cooling medium coming into said cavity through the first apertures of said housing and exiting through the second apertures of said housing;
• gripping jaws pivotably secured on said slider to come into contact with said housing and grip and release said head of said fuel assembly as said slider and said housing move in relation to each other;
• a casing mounted on said housing, adapted for motion in relation to said housing and having an internal cavity, a first end face and a second end face;
• a spring arranged on said outer surface of said housing, having a first end and a second end and interacting with its first end with the first end face of said casing;
• a cap mounted on the second end face of said casing and having an end face whose shape corresponds to that of said contact surface of said head of said fuel assembly;
• the length of said casing being selected so that as said gripping jaws grip said head of said fuel assembly, said end face of said cap comes into contact, under the action of said spring, with said contact surface of said head, thus forming a closed circuit for passage of said cooling medium through said internal cavity of said casing and through said aperture of said head into said internal cavity of said fuel assembly.