Spacer grille with saddle-shaped support elements and corresponding nuclear fuel assembly

The invention relates to a spacer grille (3), for a light water nuclear reactor fuel assembly (1), defining an essentially regular array of cells (6) for housing nuclear fuel rods (2). The spacer grille (3) further comprises support elements (16a, 16b) which extend from the peripheral girdle (7) of walls into the interior of the cells (6). The inner surface (24a, 24b) of at least one support element (16a, 16b) is concave in shape in a plane transverse to the longitudinal direction before irradiation. The inner surface (24a, 24b) of the contact part (20a, 20b) of said support element (16a, 16b)further has a convex shape in a longitudinal plane oriented radially with relation to the central axis (6') of the corresponding cell (6) before irradiation.