Helium release from plutonium and curium-doped zirconolite

Synthetic zirconolite compounds (CaZrTi2O7) were fabricated and doped with either the short lived alpha-emitters 244Cm (half-life of 18.11 yr) or 238Pu (half-life: 87.7 yr), or with 239Pu (half-life of 24 110 yr) to generate various amounts of helium and of alpha-damage over laboratory time scale. The samples were annealed in a Knudsen cell, and the helium release profiles interpreted in conjunction with parallel radiation damage and previous annealing behaviour studies. The helium released during the annealing was quantitatively analysed, providing insight on the helium confinement capacity of the zirconolite material.