Re-solution of fission gas – A review: Part I. Intragranular bubbles

Theories of fission-fragment-driven re-solution of fission-gas atoms from intragranular bubbles in irradiated UO2 nuclear fuel are reviewed. Two mechanisms of re-solution are generally accepted: the heterogeneous process destroys entire bubbles in the path of fission fragments and returns the gas to the solid as individual atoms; the homogeneous process re-solves fission-gas atoms singly by scattering collisions with fission fragments and uranium recoils whose paths intersect the bubbles. Coupling of these two re-solution models with the bubble nucleation analogs determines the size and number density of the intragranular bubble population. Two approaches are reviewed: the single-size theory, in which all bubbles are accorded one size, and the bubble distribution theory, which seeks to determine the variation of bubble number density with size.