Influence of exogenous xenon atoms on the evolution kinetics of extended defects in polycrystalline UO$_2$ using in situ TEM

C. Onofri (1) , C. Sabathier (1) , C. Baumier (2) , C. Bachelet (2) , H. Palancher (1) , Bénédicte Warot-Fonrose (3) , M. Legros (4)

1 CEA Cadarache
2 CSNSM - Centre de Sciences Nucléaires et de Sciences de la Matière
3 CEMES-I3EM - Interférométrie, In situ et Instrumentation pour la Microscopie Electronique
4 CEMES-PPM - Physique de la Plasticité et Métallurgie

This work aims at improving our understanding of the UO2 nuclear fuel behavior under irradiation in general and of the microstructural evolutions during damage build-up at the nanometer scale in particular. Within this frame, we studied the influence of exogenous xenon atoms on the extended defect change in polycrystalline UO2 thin foils through in situ TEM characterizations. The analysis of the TEM results and their comparison to our previous work (Onofri et al. JNM 482, 2016, 105) clearly show an impact of the implanted xenon atoms on the evolution kinetics of extended defects at 25 and 600 C unlike lower temperatures (180 C in our case).

Domaines: Physique [physics]

C. Onofri, C. Sabathier, C. Baumier, C. Bachelet, H. Palancher, et al.. Influence of exogenous xenon atoms on the evolution kinetics of extended defects in polycrystalline UO$_2$ using in situ TEM. Journal of Nuclear Materials, 2018, 512, pp.297-306. ⟨10.1016/j.jnucmat.2018.10.025⟩. ⟨hal-01983000⟩