The aim of this communication is to propose a new constitutive model for brittle, isotropic elastic solids exhibiting cracking and healing mechanisms, when subjected to cyclic thermo-mechanical loadings. More precisely, we focus on the case of oxide nuclear fuel for which the mechanical state affects core reactivity. The healing process is related to a welding phenomenon of primary cracks that occurs under specific irradiation, thermal and mechanical conditions and can be considered on the macroscopic scale as a chemo-physical process driven by the thermodynamic state. The proposed local model [1] have been developed within the framework of the Cohesive Zone Method (CZM). It incorporates the damage and healing mechanisms with the help of two scalar internal variables that are coupled and allow the cracks to propagate and heal. The healing variable ranges from 0 to 1 and can be viewed as a chemical reserve. In this way, the variable naturally incorporates a limited number of cracking/healing cycles. We show that the model is thermodynamically consistent and permits to account for the reciprocal impact of the cracks upon the heat diffusion. The CZM is implemented into a finite-element code and for which cohesive elements are inserted between the edges or surfaces of each element of the structure. We discuss the comparison with a phase-field approach towards crack propagation, in particular for the calibration of CZM material parameters. We consider a few numerical examples to illustrate the interest of such an approach, while showing the limitations and drawbacks inherent in this type of modeling. As a perspective, we will provide some insights for considering the multiphysics problem within a phase field approach. REFERENCES [1] Salmon, L., Garajeu, M., Lejeunes, S. et al. A thermo-mechanical cohesive zone model for damage and healing in brittle solids, Computation Mechanics, under review