Fuel assembly skeleton compaction

Apparatus for compacting an irradiated nuclear fuel assembly skeleton while said skeleton remains submerged in a water coolant comprising:

• a vertically disposed compaction housing mounted on a plurality of vertical supports and defining therein a shear chamber and a compaction chamber;
• a first cylinder horizontally disposed relative to said compaction housing;
• a first piston connected to said first cylinder,
• a vertically disposed first side plate slidably connected to said compaction housing;
• a vertically disposed second side plate slidably connected to said compaction housing;
• a front plate attached to said first and second side plates;
• a blade mounted on the bottom and leading edge of said front plate;
• a shear mounted in said shear chamber and in alignment with said blade for shearing said skeleton when said skeleton is forced between said front plate and said shear;
• a mounting mechanism attached at one end to said first and second side plates and at the other end to said first piston and capable of sliding horizontally into and out of said shear chamber for causing said front plate and said shear to contact said skeleton thereby shearing said skeleton into a plurality of pieces and thereby moving said pieces into said compaction chamber;
• a feed chamber vertically disposed and attached to said compaction housing near said shear chamber for introducing said skeleton into said shear chamber;
• an elevator mechanism disposed in said feed chamber for selectively moving said skeleton in said feed chamber and into said shear chamber;
• a compaction device mounted on said compaction housing near said compaction chamber for compacting said pieces of said skeleton that are introduced into said compaction chamber by said front plate;
• and
• a canister vertically disposed under said compaction device for receiving the compacted pieces of said skeleton.