Abstract
The microstructural changes and associated effects on thermal conductivity were examined in UO2 after irradiation using 3.9 MeV He2+ ions. Lattice expansion of UO2 was observed in X-ray diffraction after ion irradiation up to 5 × 1016 He2+/cm 2 at low-temperature (<200 °C). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed homogenous irradiation damage across an 8 μm thick plateau region, which consisted of small dislocation loops accompanied by dislocation segments. Dome-shaped blisters were observed at the peak damage region (depth around 8.5 μm) in the sample subjected to 5 × 10 16 He2+/cm2, the highest fluence reached, while similar features were not detected at 9 × 1015 He 2+/cm2. Laser-based thermo-reflectance measurements showed that the thermal conductivity for the irradiated layer decreased about 55% for the high fluence sample and 35% for the low fluence sample as compared to an un-irradiated reference sample. Detailed analysis for the thermal conductivity indicated that the conductivity reduction was caused by the irradiation induced point defects.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 283-289 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Journal of Nuclear Materials |
Volume | 454 |
Issue number | 1-3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 2014 |
Externally published | Yes |
Funding
This work was supported as a part of the Center for Materials Science of Nuclear Fuel, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. The FIB and TEM work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy under DOE Idaho Operations Office Contract DE-AC07-051D14517, as part of an ATR National Scientific User Facility experiment.
Funders | Funder number |
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U.S. Department of Energy | DE-AC07-051D14517 |
Office of Science | |
Office of Nuclear Energy | |
Basic Energy Sciences |