Claims
- 1. A method for wire-wrap spacing nuclear fuel rods for a fuel assembly containing a plurality of fuel rods in a triangular pitch array comprising the steps of: wrapping wire about each of the fuel rods in a helical pattern by using a wire of a diameter ranging from 0.035 to 0.053 inch such that a rod pitch to wire diameter ratio in the range of about 1.15 to about 1.30 can be maintained without wire-to-wire interference caused by overlapping of wires on adjacent fuel rods, and positioning the thus wrapped rods throughout the fuel assembly such that the groupings of three rods in any triangular pitch array will contain three different start positions of the wire wrapping by placing the groupings of three rods in 0.degree. -120.degree. -240.degree. orientations and such that the wire wrapping of adjacent rods forms a non-overlapping wire-to-wire contact forming a lock-wrap design tending to lock the rods together at each wire-wrap cluster.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention described herein was made in the course of, or under, Contract No. AT(04-3)-893, Task 11 with the United States Research and Development Administration.
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Number |
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Date |
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3186913 |
Weisner et al. |
Jun 1965 |
|
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|
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