Nuclear reactor fuel element assemblies

Claim 1

A NUCLEAR FUEL ASSEMBLY INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF ELONGATE FUEL ELEMENTS SUPPORTED IN A BUNDLE WITH THEIR LONGITUDINAL AXES PARALLEL, SPACING MEANS BEING PROVIDED FOR SPACING THE FUEL ELEMENTS TRANSVERSELY ONE FROM ANOTHER INTERMEDIATE THEIR ENDS, SAID SPACING MEANS COMPRISING RESILIENT SPACER MEMBERS LOCATED BETWEEN ADJACENT FUEL ELEMENTS AND A SUPPORT STRUCTURE CARRYING SAID RESILIENT SPACERD MEMBERS, SAID SUPPORT STRUCTURE COMPRISING A SERIES OF SINUOUS STRIPS JOINED TOGETHER TO FORM A GRID ASSEMBLY OF CELLULAR FORM, EACH CELL OF THE GRID BEING PENETRATED BY A FUEL ELEMENT, THE RESILIENT SPACER MEMBERS BEING IN THE FORM OF SPACER RINGS CAGED IN APERTURES IN THE STRIPS FORMING THE GRID, THE SPACER RINGS LYINGD IN A PLANE TRANSVERSE TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXES OF THE FUEL ELEMENTS, THE DIMENSION OF THE APERTURES IN THE DIRECTION OF THE LONGITUDINAL AXES OF THE FUEL ELEMENTS BEING GREATER THAN THE DEPTH OF THE SPACER RINGS SO THAT THE SPACER RINGS WHILE BEING CAGED IN THE GRID ARE MOVABLE RELATIVE TO THE GRID IN THE DIRECTION OF THE LONGITUDIBAL AXES OF THE FUEL ELEMENTS, A CLEARANCE BEING PROVIDED BETWEEN THE CIRCUMFERENTIAL SURFACE OF THE SPACER RINGS AND THE ADJACENT EDGES OF THE APERTURES IN THE STRIPS SO THAT THE SPACER RINGS ARE ALSO MOVABLE RELATIVE TO THE GRID IN DIRECTIONS TRANSVERSE TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXES OF THE FUEL ELEMENTS.