Abstract and subjects
The segregation energies of a range of fission products in UO2 to a Sigma 5 symmetric tilt grain boundary have been calculated using empirical potentials and their dependency on site, charge, and ionic radius has been determined. Density functional theory calculations provide information about the detailed bonding environment around the segregates. While most of the fission products prefer to reside in sites with large free volume, there are some that form strong bonds with neighboring oxygen ions, and thus prefer sites with high oxygen coordination. This result provides insight into nuclear fuel design to enhance control of fission product retention. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4798347]