PACS 61.80. Fe, 61.82.Ms, 76.30.Mi We have studied the color center production in yttria-stabilized zirconia single crystals (i.e. ZrO 2 : Y with 9.5 mol% Y 2 O 3 ) with the (100) orientation, by electron irradiations at energies ranging between 1.0 and 2.5 MeV. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements show that three paramagnetic centers are stable at room-temperature: i) an F + -type center (singly ionized oxygen vacancy), ii) the so-called T-center (Zr 3+ in a trigonal oxygen environment), and iii) a hole center. The growth curves of F + -type centers at variable electron energy cannot be rescaled versus the absorbed dose. These data confirm that F + -type center production is primarily governed by elastic collision processes with a threshold electron energy about 1.0 MeV. This can be correlated to a threshold displacement energy either about 120 eV for the O-atoms in the collision cascades, or about 80 eV for the Zr-(or Y-) atoms. In contrast, the growth curves of T-centers at variable electron energy are rescaled versus the absorbed dose.