Fission gas in thoria
File(s)Fission_Gas_ThO2_JNM.docx (2.88 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The fission gases Xe and Kr, formed during normal reactor operation, are known to degrade fuel performance, particularly at high burn-up. Using first-principles density functional theory together with a dispersion correction (DFT + D), in ThO₂ we calculate the energetics of neutral and charged point defects, the di-vacancy (DV), different neutral tri-vacancies (NTV), the charged tetravacancy (CTV) defect cluster geometries and their interaction with Xe and Kr. The most favourable incorporation point defect site for Xe or Kr in defective ThO₂ is the fully charged thorium vacancy. The lowest energy NTV in larger supercells of ThO₂ is NTV3, however, a single Xe atom is most stable when accommodated within a NTV1. The di-vacancy (DV) is a significantly less favoured incorporation site than the NTV1 but the CTV offers about the same incorporation energy. Incorporation of a second gas atom in a NTV is a high energy process and more unfavourable than accommodation within an existing Th vacancy. The bi-NTV (BNTV) cluster geometry studied will accommodate one or two gas atoms with low incorporation energies but the addition of a third gas atom incurs a high energy penalty. The tri-NTV cluster (TNTV) forms a larger space which accommodates three gas atoms but again there is a penalty to accommodate a fourth gas atom. By considering the energy to form the defect sites, solution energies were generated showing that in ThO₂−x the most favourable solution equilibrium site is the NTV1 while in ThO₂ it is the DV.
Date Issued
2016-12-20
Date Acceptance
2016-12-06
Citation
Journal of Nuclear Materials, 2016, 485, pp.47-55
ISSN
0022-3115
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
47
End Page
55
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Nuclear Materials
Volume
485
Copyright Statement
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. This manuscript is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000394079200006&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Grant Number
EP/K00817X/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Nuclear Science & Technology
Materials Science
Thoria
DFT
Defects
Xenon
Krypton
Nuclear fuel
AUGMENTED-WAVE METHOD
SINGLE-CRYSTAL THO2
LATTICE-PARAMETER
URANIUM-DIOXIDE
DEFECTS
Publication Status
Published