Fission fragment damage to crystal structures

Fission product release in high-burn-up UO2 oxidized to U3O8

“…Furthermore, U 3 O 8 at temperatures below 400 K is almost completely destroyed by radiation damage already at doses of 10 17 -10 18 fissions cm À3 [10,11]. Since thermal healing takes place only at temperatures above 600 K [12], one should remark that a fuel oxidation event occurring in-pile at low temperature may lead to more complex oxidation and fission product release conditions than those examined here.…”

Fuel performance evaluation of rock-like oxide fuels

“…It is known that the neutron resistance of corundum is inferior to that of spinel [5], and corundum becomes amorphous by fission damage. Berman et al reported that the fuel specimen irradiated at low temperature (about 560 K) showed a large swelling (about 30%) due to amorphization of the corundum phase [4]. In this work, the swelling of the corundum-based fuels was substantial but not so large as that of spinel.…”

“…We have shown that the YSZ composite containing about 50 mol% MgAl 2 O 4 and 15 mol% UO 2 showed higher thermal conductivity than UO 2 , in the temperature range from room temperature to 1700 K [3]. However, it is known that the corundum matrix fuels show larger irradiation swelling [4]. On the other hand, the resistance of spinel to neutron irradiation is high [5], but that to fission fragment damage might not be sufficient.…”

Study of Rock-like Oxide Fuels under Irradiation

“…Berman et al (10) reported that the fuel specimen irradiated at low temperature (about 560 K) showed a large swelling (about 30 %) due to amorphization of the corundum phase. The confirmation of swelling behavior of corundum under the irradiation condition of around 1000 K was an important objective of this irradiation test.…”