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