SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR NUCLEAR REACTOR DRY TUBE ASSEMBLY REMOVAL AND INSTALLATION

Dry tube tooling systems can manipulate dry tubes in reactors without removing all fuel next to the tubes, saving considerable outage time and allowing fresh detectors and instrumentation to be installed throughout fuel shuffling. Bodies of the tooling fits through a top guide and secure to the same without completely surrounding the dry tube or requiring all nearby fuel to be removed. The tooling includes a retainer that moves to secure to the dry tube and vertically and/or horizontally move the same. The retainer can release or install the dry tube in a fixed core location through such movement. Dry tubes can thus be installed and/or removed by operating the tooling from a bridge or crane above the reactor. The movement of the retainer can be achieved by power or signals from the operators to move and grasp the dry tube in a desired manner.