What is the major benefit of heavy water reactors?

While heavy water is significantly more expensive than ordinary light water, it yields greatly enhanced neutron economy, allowing the reactor to operate without fuel enrichment facilities (mitigating the additional capital cost of the heavy water) and generally enhancing the ability of the reactor to efficiently make …

What is deuterium used for?

Uses of Deuterium The deuterium atom is widely used in prototype fusion reactors. The deuterium atoms also have their application in military, industrial, and scientific fields. They are used as a tracer in nuclear fusion reactors in order to slow down the neutrons in heavy water moderated fission reactors.

What is heavy water write its importance?

Following are the importance of heavy water. (i) It is extensively used as a moderator in nuclear reactors. (ii) It is used as a tracer compound in the study of reaction mechanism. (iii) It is useed for the preparation of other deuterium compounds such as CD4,D2SO4 etc.

Why is deuterium called heavy water?

In ordinary water, each hydrogen atom has just a single proton in its nucleus. In heavy water, each hydrogen atom is indeed heavier, with a neutron as well as a proton in its nucleus. This isotope of hydrogen is called deuterium, and heavy water’s more scientific name is deuterium oxide, abbreviated as D20.

Why is deuterium used in nuclear reactors?

Heavy water is one of the two moderators that can be used which allow a nuclear reactor to operate using natural uranium. Deuterium works as a moderator as it absorbs fewer neutrons than hydrogen, which is extremely important as nuclear fission reactions require neutrons to carry out their chain reactions.

Where is heavy water used?

The heavy water produced is used as a moderator of neutrons in nuclear power plants. In the laboratory heavy water is employed as an isotopic tracer in studies of chemical and biochemical processes.

How do you get deuterium from heavy water?

An alternative method exists when water is electrolyzed to make oxygen and hydrogen that contains normal gas, along with deuterium. The hydrogen is then liquefied and distilled to separate the two components, then the deuterium is reacted with oxygen to form heavy water.