Abstract: A vacuum transfer apparatus for use in en masse vacuum gripping nuclear fuel pellets includes an enclosure defining a vacuum chamber and having an open bottom, a rigid support gridwork spanning and attached to the enclosure open bottom, and a perforated mat attached to the gridwork along a side opposite from the enclosure. The mat is composed of resiliently flexible material and has a matrix of spaced apart holes of a cross-sectional size substantially smaller than the diameter of the pellets. The support gridwork defines a plurality of passages of a cross-sectional size substantially larger than that of the holes in the mat. The gridwork passages provide the sole path for communicating a vacuum from the enclosure chamber to the mat holes for vacuum gripping and holding the pellets at their upper end surfaces against the mat. A perforated tray is employed with the vacuum transfer apparatus for supporting the fuel pellets.