Framatome Anp Gmbh

Sébastien Joly

Daniel Grypczynski

Gilles Morel

A device for handling a guide tube assembly. The assembly has an upper tube and a lower tube in each of which there are fixed horizontal guide plates arranged such that they are spaced apart in an axial direction. The handling device itself includes a gripper having a tubular body and two opposing arms located at one end of the tubular body and moveable between a retracted position and a deployed position, the arms bearing against a lower surface of a contacted guide plate when in the deployed position. A control member is located at an opposite end of the tubular body for controlling the arms. The length of the tubular body of the gripper selected to be: a) greater than the distance between an upper end of the upper tube and a first guide plate of the lower tube; and b) less than the distance between the upper end of the upper tube and a third guide plate of the second tube.

Method and apparatus for handling a tube guide of upper interval equipment of a nuclear reactor

The apparatus for positioning a fuel assembly () comprises, on a respective side of the core support plate () and the upper core plate () directed towards an endpiece () of the fuel assembly () at least two projecting positioning pins () adapted to engage in openings in the lower endpiece () or upper endpiece (). Each of the positioning pins () is fixed in a blind opening () comprising a threaded bore and a support surface perpendicular to the axis of the blind opening () and comprises a flange adapted to come into contact with the support surface when the positioning pin () is screwed into the threaded bore. A gudgeon enables the positioning pin to be locked to secure it against unscrewing. The invention also relates to a process and apparatus for replacing damaged positioning pins on the core support plate () or on the upper core plate ().

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Saint Marcel, France

Sébastien Joly