Thermal properties of UO$_{2}$ single crystal

For decades UO$_{2}$ has been the most widely studied actinide oxide because of its technological importance as fuel material for nuclear reactors. Therefore there is a large interest in understanding its thermal, transport and thermodynamic properties. We present recent experimental results for the thermal conductivity and thermal expansion of high quality UO$_{2}$ single crystal, obtained for different crystallographic directions, and compare with results of molecular dynamics simulations. We will discuss the implications of this study.