[en] Highlights: • Extended dissolution of different forms of UO₂ was conducted under anoxic conditions. • Dissolved uranium of the same magnitude (10⁻⁹ mol/l) was obtained for all three different physical solid forms of UO₂. • Different secondary phases of uranium were observed from dissolution in di-water. • These U(IV) secondary phases limit dissolved concentrations of uranium. - Abstract: The escape of radionuclides from underground spent nuclear fuel disposal facilities will likely result from anoxic dissolution of spent nuclear fuel by intruding groundwater. Anoxic dissolution of various forms of uranium dioxide (UO₂), namely bulk pellet, powder and thin film, has been investigated. Long-duration static batch dissolution experiments were designed to investigate the release of uranium ions in deionized water and any surface chemistry that may occur on the UO₂ surface. The dissolved uranium concentration for anoxic dissolution of nearly stoichiometric UO₂ was found to be of the order of 10⁻⁹ mol/l for the three different sample types. Further, clusters (∼500 nm) of homogenous uranium-containing precipitates of ∼20–100 nm grains were observed in thin film dissolution experiments. Such a low solubility of UO₂ across sample types and the observation of secondary phases in deionized water suggest that anoxic UO₂ dissolution does not only occur through a U(IV)_(solid) to U(VI)_(aqueous) process. Thus, we propose that dissolution of uranium under anoxic repository conditions may also proceed via U(IV)_(solid) to U(IV)_(aqueous), with subsequent U(IV) _{(precipitates)} in a less defective form. Quantitative analysis of surface-sensitive EBSD diffractograms was conducted to elucidate lattice-mismatch induced cracks observed in UO₂ thin film studies. Variable temperature anoxic dissolution was conducted, and no increased uranium concentration was observed in elevated temperatures.