Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 September 2012
In a simplified (SiO2, B2O3, Na2O, Al2O3, ZrO2) glass, corresponding to the basic matrix for the French nuclear waste containment glass, the authors developed a molecular dynamics simulation of the atom displacement cascades resulting from a disintegration of the actinides. After simulating the secondary cascades resulting from the first atoms displaced by a collision with a recoil nucleus, an actinide (U) was added to the model and the cascade produced by accelerating this type of atom was explicitly investigated, notably to observe the morphological evolution of the cascades and the resulting changes in the glass structure.