PhD defense of Théo CORDARA

Théo CORDARA (LIME) will defend his Ph.D. dissertation entitled "Impact of the presence of fission products on the mechanisms of dissolution of uranium dioxide based model compounds" on Monday, November 27, 2017 at 10.30 am (ICSM Auditorium).

Abstract: The dissolution of spent nuclear fuels, performed in concentrated nitric acid solution, is a complex process due to some chemical and microstructural heterogeneities. As instance, the presence of Fission Products (FP) in various phases constitutive of spent nuclear fuels can affect the chemical durability of the materials. In this context, three systems of interest representing fresh UO2 used as reference material, and UO2 doped with FP products dissolved in the fluorite structure (lanthanide elements) or incorporated as metallic precipitates (platinoids) were prepared by oxalic or hydroxide precipitation. These results led to complementary data of strong interest in order to improve the understanding of the role of FP during the dissolution of UO2.