Radiolytic dissolution of uranium oxides

The corrosion of uranium dioxide nuclear fuel in the presence of a radiation field is a reaction that is important during both burning of a fuel in a reactor and in the long-term storage of spent fuel. We will investigate this reaction by using synchrotron x-rays to both drive the radiolytic dissolution and measure x-ray diffraction and reflectivity. To effectively drive radiolysis, we use ~14 keV beam at grazing incidence to the sample surface, with water held on the sample surface by a Kapton water tension cell. This is the same methodology as used for A28-1-1358 on BM28 (17 - 24 May 2023). We will expand on this method by also investigating the possibility of doing in-situ spectroscopy measurements simultaneously. The samples used will be thin films of UO2 and U3O8, both of which will have activity below 1 Bq.