Nuclear reactor fuel elements with supporting lattices having resilient spacing means

Claim 1

A FUEL ELEMENT ASSEMBLY FOR A NUCLEAR REACTOR, THE ASSEMBLY COMPRISING: A PLURALITY OF VERTICAL RODS CONTAINING FISSIONABLE MATERIAL, EACH ROD HAVING A ROUND CROSS SECTIONAL AREA; AT LEAST ONE HORIZONTAL SUPPORTING LATTICE MADE OF STRIP MATERIAL AND HAVING EQUAL MESHES, EACH ROD BEING LOCATED IN AN INDIVIDUAL MESH OF SAID LATTICE, THE INSCRIBED CIRCLE OF EACH MESH HAVING A GREATER DIAMETER THAN THAT OF THE RODS; AND RESILIENT SPACING MEMBERS FORMING PART OF THE LATTICE AND PROJECTING INTO THE MESHES THEREOF, SAID SPACING MEMBERS RESILIENTLY CONTACTING SAID RODS AND HOLDING THEM BOTH CENTRALIZED IN SAID MESHES AND SPACED APART FROM ONE ANOTHER, ALL MESHES BEING PROVIDED WITH EQUALLY ARRANGED SETS OF EQUAL NUMBERS OF SPACING MEMBERS, THOSE SPACING MEMBERS WHICH ARE LOCATED IN THE SAME HORIZONTAL ONE HALVES OF THE MESHES BEING DISPOSED NEARER THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE LATTICE THAN TO THE LOWER SURFACE OF THE LATTICE, AND THOSE SPACING MEMBERS LOCATED IN THE OTHER HALVES OF THE MESHES BEING DISPOSED NEARER TO THE LOWER SURFACE OF THE LATTICES THAN TO THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE LATTICE.