Reactor core and control rod assembly in FBR type reactor

Fuel assemblies and control rod assemblies are attached respectively to reactor core support plates each in a cantilever fashion. Intermediate spacer pads are disposed to the lateral side of a wrapper tube just above the fuel rod region. Intermediate space pads are disposed to the lateral side of a control rod guide tube just above a fuel rod region. The thickness of the intermediate spacer pad for the control rod assembly is made smaller than the thickness of the intermediate spacer pad for the fuel assembly. This can prevent contact between intermediate spacer pads of the control guide tube and the fuel assembly even if the temperature of coolants is elevated to thermally expand the intermediate spacer pad, by which the radial displacement amount of the reactor core region along the direction of the height of the control guide tube is reduced substantially to zero. Accordingly, contribution of the control rod assembly to the radial expansion reactivity can be reduced to zero or negative level, by which the effect of the negative radial expansion reactivity of the reactor is increased to improve the safety upon thermal transient stage, for example, loss of coolant flow rate accident. (I.N.)