2.6 MeV proton irradiation effects on the surface integrity of depleted UO₂

The effect of low temperature proton irradiation in depleted uranium dioxide was examined as a function of fluence. With 2.6 MeV protons, the fluence limit for preserving a good surface quality was found to be relatively low, about 1.4 and 7.0 × 10¹⁷ protons/cm² for single and poly crystalline samples, respectively. Upon increasing the fluence above this threshold, severe surface flaking and disintegration of samples was observed. Based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) observations the causes of surface failure were associated to high H atomic percent at the peak damage region due to low solubility of H in UO₂. The resulting lattice stress is believed to exceed the fracture stress of the crystal at the observed fluencies. The oxygen point defects from the displacement damage may hinder the H diffusion and further increase the lattice stress, especially at the peak damage region.