Establishing the isotropy of displacement cascades in UO₂ through molecular dynamics simulation

Simulation of displacement cascades is a valuable approach in furthering our understanding of how the physical properties of nuclear fuel evolve. Molecular dynamics simulations of displacement cascades in uranium dioxide have been performed at three different primary knock-on atom energies. Various properties of the cascade (such as the spatial extent and total number of defects) are monitored as the cascade progresses. Both the statistical variation of these properties and the dependence on the crystallographic direction of the primary knock-on atom are investigated in order to determine the isotropy of these events.