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Title: Simulation of radiation driven fission gas diffusion in UO2, ThO2 and PuO2

Abstract

Below 1000 K it is thought that fission gas diffusion in nuclear fuel during irradiation occurs through atomic mixing due to radiation damage. Here we present a molecular dynamics (MD) study of Xe, Kr, Th, U, Pu and O diffusion due to irradiation. It is concluded that the ballistic phase does not sufficiently account for the experimentally observed diffusion. Thermal spike simulations are used to confirm that electronic stopping remedies the discrepancy with experiment and the predicted diffusivities lie within the scatter of the experimental data. Here, our results predict that the diffusion coefficients are ordered such that D*0 > D*Kr > D*Xe > D*U. For all species >98.5% of diffusivity is accounted for by electronic stopping. Fission gas diffusivity was not predicted to vary significantly between ThO2, UO2 and PuO2, indicating that this process would not change greatly for mixed oxide fuels.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [1]
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  2. Independent Consultant (United Kingdom)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
OSTI Identifier:
1329908
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1396810
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-16-24635
Journal ID: ISSN 0022-3115
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC52-06NA25396
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Nuclear Materials
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 481; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0022-3115
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS

Citation Formats

Cooper, Michael William D., Stanek, Christopher Richard, Turnbull, James Anthony, Uberuaga, Blas P., and Andersson, David Anders. Simulation of radiation driven fission gas diffusion in UO2, ThO2 and PuO2. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.09.013.
Cooper, Michael William D., Stanek, Christopher Richard, Turnbull, James Anthony, Uberuaga, Blas P., & Andersson, David Anders. Simulation of radiation driven fission gas diffusion in UO2, ThO2 and PuO2. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.09.013
Cooper, Michael William D., Stanek, Christopher Richard, Turnbull, James Anthony, Uberuaga, Blas P., and Andersson, David Anders. Thu . "Simulation of radiation driven fission gas diffusion in UO2, ThO2 and PuO2". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.09.013. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1329908.
@article{osti_1329908,
title = {Simulation of radiation driven fission gas diffusion in UO2, ThO2 and PuO2},
author = {Cooper, Michael William D. and Stanek, Christopher Richard and Turnbull, James Anthony and Uberuaga, Blas P. and Andersson, David Anders},
abstractNote = {Below 1000 K it is thought that fission gas diffusion in nuclear fuel during irradiation occurs through atomic mixing due to radiation damage. Here we present a molecular dynamics (MD) study of Xe, Kr, Th, U, Pu and O diffusion due to irradiation. It is concluded that the ballistic phase does not sufficiently account for the experimentally observed diffusion. Thermal spike simulations are used to confirm that electronic stopping remedies the discrepancy with experiment and the predicted diffusivities lie within the scatter of the experimental data. Here, our results predict that the diffusion coefficients are ordered such that D*0 > D*Kr > D*Xe > D*U. For all species >98.5% of diffusivity is accounted for by electronic stopping. Fission gas diffusivity was not predicted to vary significantly between ThO2, UO2 and PuO2, indicating that this process would not change greatly for mixed oxide fuels.},
doi = {10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.09.013},
journal = {Journal of Nuclear Materials},
number = C,
volume = 481,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}

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Cited by: 25 works
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Works referencing / citing this record:

Fission Gas Release from Irradiated UO 2+ x During Transient Annealing
journal, March 2019


Atomistic model of xenon gas bubble re-solution rate due to thermal spike in uranium oxide
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