Ensuring the safety and high operation reliability of nuclear reactors takes 100% inspection of geometrical parameters of fuel assemblies, which include the grid spacers performed as a cellular structure with fuel elements. The required grid spacer geometry of assembly in the transverse and longitudinal cross sections is extremely important for maintaining the necessary heat regime. A universal method for 3D grid spacer inspection using a diffractive optical element (DOE), which generates as the structural illumination a multiple-ring pattern on the inner surface of a grid spacer cell, is investigated. Using some DOEs one can inspect the nomenclature of all produced grids. A special objective has been developed for forming the inner surface cell image. The problems of diffractive elements synthesis, projecting optics calculation, adjusting methods as well as calibration of the experimental measuring system are considered. The algorithms for image processing for different constructive elements of grids (cell, channel hole, outer grid spacer rim) and the experimental results are presented.