Strain relaxation in He implanted UO2 polycrystals under thermal treatment: An in situ XRD study

Abstract Within the frame of the long-term evolution of spent nuclear fuel in dry disposal, the behavior of He in UO 2 polycrystals has to be studied. Here, strain relaxation in He implanted samples has been characterized using in situ X-ray diffraction during thermal annealing. The influence of a wide range of experimental parameters (annealing atmosphere, He ion energy, orientation of the UO 2 grains probed by X-rays) has been evaluated. If each of them contributes to the strain relaxation kinetics in the implanted layer, strain relaxation is not completed for temperatures below 900 °C which is equivalent to what has been found on He implanted UO 2 single crystals, or aged UO 2 pellets doped with α-emitters. In the case of implantation with 500 keV He ions, we clearly show that strain relaxation and He release are not correlated for temperatures below 750 °C.