Radiation effects in crystalline ceramics for the immobilization of high-level nuclear waste and plutonium

Weber, William J.; Ewing, Rodney C.; Catlow, C. Richard A.; Rubia, T. Dı́az de la; Hobbs, Linn W.; Kinoshita, Chiken; Matzke, Hj.; Motta, Arthur T.; Nastasi, M.; Salje, Ekhard K. H.; Vance, E. R.; Zinkle, S.J.

doi:10.1557/jmr.1998.0205

Cited by 868 publications

(589 citation statements)

References 275 publications

(524 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

579

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Radiation damage in oxides is commonly described by point defect formation [21,30]. For quartz too, this has been proposed as the primary damage manifestation at low dosage [1,11].…”

Section: A Structural Damagementioning

confidence: 99%

Nature of radiation-induced defects in quartz

Wang

Pignatelli

et al. 2015

The Journal of Chemical Physics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although quartz (α-form) is a mineral used in numerous applications wherein radiation exposure is an issue, the nature of the atomistic defects formed during radiation-induced damage have not been fully clarified. Especially, the extent of oxygen vacancy formation is still debated, which is an issue of primary importance as optical techniques based on charged oxygen vacancies have been utilized to assess the level of radiation damage in quartz. In this paper, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are applied to study the effects of ballistic impacts on the atomic network of quartz. We show that the defects that are formed mainly consist of over-coordinated Si and O, as well as Si-O connectivity defects, e.g., small Si-O rings and edge-sharing Si tetrahedra. Oxygen vacancies, on the contrary, are found in relatively low abundance, suggesting that characterizations based on E centers do not adequately capture radiation-induced structural damage in quartz. Finally, we evaluate the dependence on the incident energy, of the amount of each type of the point defects formed, and quantify unambiguously the threshold displacement energies for both O and Si atoms. These results provide a comprehensive basis to assess the nature and extent of radiation damage in quartz.

show abstract

“…Radiation damage in oxides is commonly described by point defect formation [21,30]. For quartz too, this has been proposed as the primary damage manifestation at low dosage [1,11].…”

Section: A Structural Damagementioning

confidence: 99%

Nature of radiation-induced defects in quartz

Wang

Pignatelli

et al. 2015

The Journal of Chemical Physics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The structural modifications induced by charged (or neutral) particles on materials [1][2][3] are a key issue to allow for the reliable operation of nuclear fission reactors and to minimize the deleterious effects associated to the storage of the nuclear radioactive waste [4,5]. The damage problem may be even more demanding for the future fusion reactors given the high neutron fluxes and temperatures reached during operation of the confined plasma [6] or the extreme power of laser pulses for inertial systems [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kinetics of amorphization induced by swift heavy ions in α-quartz

Peña‐Rodríguez

Manzano-Santamaría

Rivera

et al. 2012

Journal of Nuclear Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The kinetics of amorphization in crystalline Si0 2 (oi-quartz) under irradiation with swift heavy ions (0 +1 at 4 MeV, 0 +4 at 13 MeV, F +2 at 5 MeV, F +4 at 15 MeV, Cl +3 at 10 MeV, CI* 4 at 20 MeV, Br +5 at 15 and 25 MeV and Br +8 at 40 MeV) has been analyzed in this work with an Avrami-type law and also with a recently developed cumulative approach (track-overlap model). This latter model assumes a track morphology consisting of an amorphous core (area

show abstract

“…The damage in a material caused by radiation can be classed by the type of energy transfer and the resultant implantation volume effects [108,109,97,100,110,99,111,112,113,114,115,116,117]. Gamma radiation, which is not covered here, produces little damage in the materials of interest.…”

Section: Radiation Damagementioning

confidence: 99%

Radiation Damage and Fission Product Release in Zirconium Nitride

Egeland

2005

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Zirconium nitride is a material of interest to the AFCI program due to some of its particular properties, such as its high melting point, strength and thermal conductivity. It is to be used as an inert matrix or diluent with a nuclear fuel based on transuranics. As such, it must sustain not only high temperatures, but also continuous irradiation from fission and decay products. This study addresses the issues of irradiation damage and fission product retention in zirconium nitride through an assessment of defects that are produced, how they react, and how predictions can be made as to the overall lifespan of the complete nuclear fuel package.Ion irradiation experiments are a standard method for producing radiation damage to a surface for observation. Cryogenic irradiations are performed to produce the maximum accumulation of defects, while elevated temperature irradiations may be used to allow defects to migrate and react to form clusters and loops. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy and grazing-incidence x-ray diffractometry were used in evaluating the effects that irradiation has on the crystal structure and microstructure of the material. Other techniques were employed to evaluate physical effects, such as nanoindentation and helium release measurements.Results of the irradiations showed that, at cryogenic temperatures, ZrN withstood over 200 displacements per atom without amorphization. No significant change to the lattice or microstructure was observed. At elevated temperatures, the large amount of damage showed mobility, but did not anneal significantly. Defect clustering was possibly observed, yet the size was too small to evaluate, and bubble formation was not observed.Defects, specifically nitrogen vacancies, affect the mechanical behavior of ZrN dramatically. Current and previous work on dislocations shows a distinct change in slip plane, which is evidence of the bonding characteristics. The stacking-fault energy changes dramatically with lowered nitrogen stoichiometry, resulting in widely spaced partial dislocations in ZrN with high nitrogen vacancy concentration.The wide range of nitrogen stoichiometry in the phase field shows that ZrN may accept nitrogen defects readily. Explanations for this are suggested based upon the bonding structure of these cubic nitrides. This structure allows for a solid framework to remain on one sublattice, while at the same time allowing defects on the other sublattice. This allowance for defects allows significant damage from irradiation yet also decreases the drive for cluster growth. This is evidence that the structure will be acceptable for long-term use as a nuclear reactor fuel.

show abstract

Radiation effects in crystalline ceramics for the immobilization of high-level nuclear waste and plutonium

Cited by 868 publications

References 275 publications

Nature of radiation-induced defects in quartz

Nature of radiation-induced defects in quartz

Kinetics of amorphization induced by swift heavy ions in α-quartz

Radiation Damage and Fission Product Release in Zirconium Nitride

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About