Stud Lifting Wrench

The Vo-Tech Stud Lifting Wrench is a purpose-built mechanical tool that safely raises reactor dome studs into their locking position during reactor head disassembly. Once raised, the studs are secured in place to provide the floor clearance required for reactor dome staging — a prerequisite for the disassembly evolutions that follow.

Manual lifting of reactor dome studs is heavy, awkward work performed in confined positions on the refueling floor. Historically, this task has produced worker injuries and OSHA-recordable incidents — strains, pinches, and impact events that drive lost-time costs, exposure dose accumulation during incident response, and direct schedule impact when a crew member is removed from rotation mid-outage. The Stud Lifting Wrench eliminates the manual lift entirely, replacing it with a controlled mechanical operation that one technician can perform safely and repeatably.

Why Mechanical Stud Lifting

• Eliminates a documented injury source — manual stud lifting has produced OSHA-recordable incidents on past outages
• Controlled, repeatable operation — mechanical advantage and integrated guidance replace operator strength and technique
• Reduces personnel required for the lift — a single technician performs the operation that previously required multiple workers
• Protects the studs — controlled lifting prevents the impact and side-loading damage that manual handling can introduce
• Supports outage schedule reliability — eliminates the schedule risk of an injury event mid-evolution
• Reduces dose accumulation — faster, single-operator lifting shortens time at the work face on the reactor head

How the Tool Works

The Stud Lifting Wrench is positioned over the reactor dome stud and engages the stud through a dedicated interface at the base of the tool. A mechanical drive — operated by handle from above — raises the stud vertically along guided columns until it reaches the locking position. Integrated guides keep the lift on-axis throughout the operation, eliminating the side-loading and impact events characteristic of manual handling. Once the stud is in position, it is secured per the host plant’s procedure and the tool is repositioned for the next stud.

Key Features

• Mechanical lifting drive eliminates the need for manual stud handling
• Guided column construction maintains on-axis lift through the full operation
• Top-mounted operating handles allow the technician to work from a stable upright position
• Single-operator operation reduces crew size at the work face
• Robust frame engineered for repeated outage-cycle service
• Compatible with standard reactor head stud geometry; custom configurations available for non-standard applications

Applications

• Reactor dome stud lifting and locking during reactor head disassembly
• Floor-clearance preparation for reactor dome staging
• Outage workflows where manual stud lifting represents a documented safety hazard
• Crew-size reduction initiatives targeting personnel exposure and headcount on the refueling floor

Part of the Vo-Tech Reactor Head Tool Set

The Stud Lifting Wrench is one component of Vo-Tech’s integrated reactor head outage tooling. The complete set covers the full disassembly sequence — pneumatic and electric Nut Runners for bottom-nut removal, the Stud Lifting Wrench for raising and locking studs, the Stud Removal Machine for recovering broken or seized studs, and the Stud Hole Cleaning Machine for thread preparation prior to reassembly. All tools are designed and built at the same facility, tested against engineered training mockups, and supported by Vo-Tech engineering throughout deployment.

Engineered, Built, and Supported In-House

Every Stud Lifting Wrench is designed, manufactured, and supported at Vo-Tech’s Crystal Lake, Illinois facility. Custom configurations matched to specific reactor designs and stud geometries are available on request, along with corresponding training mockups for operator qualification before field deployment.

Contact Vo-Tech to specify a Stud Lifting Wrench for your outage program, request a configuration matched to your reactor head geometry, or arrange a quote.