Nonlinear dynamical behavior of Xenon atoms along dislocation lines in UO2+x nuclear fuel

Experimental results showed that there are a few Xenon atom bubbles connected by the dislocation line in the UO2+x nuclear fuel, and the largest radius of bubbles is about 45 nm. This phenomenon is in contrast to traditional bubble formation mechanism. This phenomenon is very important in understanding the properties of nuclear fuel. In this work, we apply a time-dependent microscopic atom transport equation and take into account stress coherent potential in the boundary of the dislocation. Using the equation, we numerically solved the stress coherence effect and studied the transfer properties of Xenon atoms along the dislocation line. Our numerical results show that the transport of the Xenon atoms along the dislocation changes nonlinearly with the external driving energy, and reaches at the saturation values. It explains the growth limit of Xenon atom bubbles that is in agreement with the experiment results.