Fission enhanced diffusion of uranium in zirconia

This paper deals with the comparison between thermal and Fission Enhanced Diffusion (FED) of uranium into zirconia, representative of the inner face of cladding tubes. The experiments under irradiation are performed at the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble using the Lohengrin spectrometer. A thin 235UO2 layer in direct contact with an oxidised zirconium foil is irradiated in the ILL high flux reactor. The fission product flux is about 1011 ions cm−2 s−1 and the target temperature is measured by an IR pyrometer. A model is proposed to deduce an apparent uranium diffusion coefficient in zirconia from the energy distribution broadening of two selected fission products. It is found to be equal to 10−15 cm2 s−1 at 480 °C and compared to uranium thermal diffusion data in ZrO2 in the same pressure and temperature conditions. The FED results are analysed in comparison with literature data.