Aligning device for fuel elements of a pressurized water reactor
AssigneeAreva Np
InventorsHeinz Maas, Holger Weimer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An aligning device for fuel elements allows fuel elements of a pressurized water reactor to be aligned in a comparatively easy and quick manner. To this end, the aligning device for fuel elements includes an aligning body, which extends in a longitudinal direction and whose lateral faces formed from side metal sheets can be displaced out of a position of rest in a direction that is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. The cross-sectional dimensions of the lateral faces of the aligning body in the position of rest are selected so that they are less than the corresponding cross-sectional dimension of a reference fuel element by a predetermined nominal value.
Claims10
An alignment apparatus for a fuel element in a pressurized-water reactor, comprising:
- an alignment body having a given overall length in a longitudinal direction, said alignment body having side surfaces formed of side plates and a cross-sectional dimension defined by said side surfaces of said alignment body, said cross-sectional dimension of said alignment body, in a rest position, being smaller by a predetermined nominal value than a corresponding cross-sectional dimension of a reference fuel element, said side surfaces having an overall length in the longitudinal direction being substantially the same as said given overall length of said alignment body in the longitudinal direction, and said side surfaces being constructed for being moveable from the rest position perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction thereby enlarging said cross-sectional dimension of said alignment body for correctively altering the fuel element over its entire length.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.