The doping of UO2 ceramics with transition metal elements such as vanadium is a topical enterprise due to the relevance to advanced technology nuclear fuels in addition to understanding fuel-cladding interactions in spent nuclear fuel. Herein, the lattice and microstructural dependence of V-doped UO2 ceramics synthesized under conditions of − 420 kJ/mol and 1700 °C with elemental additions of 0, 500, 1000 and 2000 ppm was established using high-resolution synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Microstructural analysis indicates moderate growth of the UO2 grain structure is achieved with V doping, but not as appreciable as gold-standard Cr-doped UO2. Collected diffractograms, analysed using the Rietveld method, indicate similar levels of solubility of V in comparison to Cr-doped UO2 under like conditions. The results of this investigation were discussed in relation to current structural models of lattice incorporation of transition metals in UO2.
