Using first-principles density functional calculations, the structural and elastic properties of fluorite type oxides CeO2, ThO2 and PoO2 were studied by means of the full-potential linear muffin-tin orbital method. Calculations were performed within the local density approximation (LDA) as well as generalized gradient approximation (GGA) to the exchange correlation potential. The calculated equilibrium lattice constants and bulk moduli are in good agreement with the experimental results, as are the computed elastic constants for CeO2 and ThO2. For PoO 2 this is the first quantitative theoretical prediction of the ground state properties, and it still awaits experimental confirmation. The calculations find PoO2 to be a semiconductor with an indirect band gap and elastic constants similar in magnitude to those of CeO2 and ThO2. © IOP Publishing Ltd.