Gripper assembly for inserting and removing burnable absorber rods and thimble plugs in a nuclear reactor fuel assembly

摘要

Apparatus for inserting and removing a plurality of elongated members (20) from a nuclear reactor fuel assembly (12), includes a frame (58) supported so as to be movable toward and away from the fuel assembly (12) with upper and lower spaced plates (68, 70) which are movable relative to one another and, together, toward and away from the adapter plate (22) of the top nozzle (18) of the fuel assembly (12), the lower plate (70) has a downwardly extending hollow releasing member (76) for moving a latch­ing member (48) between its latched position and an un­latched position, an engaging member (84) connected to the releasing member (76) extends therethrough downwardly from the lower plate (70) and an actuating member (90) extends downwardly from the upper plate (68) through the releasing member (76) so as to be able to coact with the engaging member (84) to releasably engage the latching structure (28).