Properties of zirconium alloys and their applications in light water reactors (LWRs) - Materials' Ageing and Degradation in Light Water Reactors - page 87

Fuel assembly handle
304 L stainless steel
Spacer button

Assembly
identification number

4.18

5.438

Identification

Upper tie plate
304 L stainless steel

20.31

Fuel cladding Zry-2
with or without liner/barrier

Spacers
Inconel X-750,
Inconel 718, Zry-2

144
Active fuel zone

Fuel outer channel
Zry-4, Zry-2

Lower tie plate,
debris filter
304 L stainless steel 7.38

4.3 Typical BWR FA in inches (Cox et al. , 2006).

￿ ￿ ￿ ￿ ￿ ￿

In all BWRs, the assemblies are enclosed in 'fuel channels' surrounding
the assemblies and between which the blades of the control rods moves.
Irrespective of the many possible different shapes, sizes and confi gura-
tions, the common FA design requirements are (Cox et al ., 2006 ):

￿ Maintain proper positioning of the fuel rods under normal operating

conditions and in design basis accidents (DBAs) (e.g. seismic effects,
LOCA, RIA).
Permit handling capability before and after irradiation. ￿

Figures 4.3 and 4.4 show a typical BWR and PWR FA, respectively. Also, the
different FA components are shown and the material selections for these