NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Heavy water

Heavy water is water which contains a higher proportion than normal of the isotope deuterium, as deuterium oxide, D₂O or ²H₂O, or as deuterium protium oxide, HDO or ¹H²HO.^[1] Its physical and chemical properties are somewhat similar to those of water, H₂O. Heavy water may contain as much as 100% D₂O, and usually the term refers to water which is highly enriched in deuterium. The isotopic substitution with deuterium alters the bond energy of the hydrogen-oxygen bond in water, altering the physical, chemical, and especially biological properties of the pure or highly-enriched substance to a larger degree than is found in most isotope-substituted chemical compounds. For other uses, see Viscosity (disambiguation). ... The pascal second (symbol PaÂ·s) is the SI unit of dynamic viscosity. ... The Earths magnetic field, which is approximately a dipole. ... The debye (symbol: D) is a non-SI and non-CGS unit of electrical dipole moment. ... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... NFPA 704 is a standard maintained by the U.S. National Fire Protection Association. ... Image File history File links NFPA_704. ... For other uses, see Solvent (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Acetone (disambiguation). ... Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, carbinol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a chemical compound with chemical formula CH3OH (often abbreviated MeOH). ... Water vapor or water vapour (see spelling differences), also aqueous vapor, is the gas phase of water. ... This article is about water ice. ... The plimsoll symbol as used in shipping In chemistry, the standard state of a material is its state at 1 bar (100 kilopascals exactly). ... This article is about the properties of water. ... For other uses, see Isotope (disambiguation). ... Deuterium, also called heavy hydrogen, is a stable isotope of hydrogen with a natural abundance in the oceans of Earth of approximately one atom in 6500 of hydrogen (~154 PPM). ... This article is about the properties of water. ... In chemistry, bond energy (E) is a measure of bond strength in a chemical bond. ...

Heavy water should not be confused with hard water or with tritiated water. Not to be confused with heavy water. ... Tritiated water is a form of water where the usual hydrogen atoms are replaced with tritium. ...

Other meanings

Semiheavy water

Semiheavy water, HDO, exists whenever there is water with hydrogen-1 (or protium) and deuterium present in the mixture. This is because hydrogen atoms (hydrogen-1 and deuterium) are rapidly exchanged between water molecules. Water containing 50% H and 50% D in its hydrogen actually contains about 50% HDO and 25% each of H₂O and D₂O, in dynamic equilibrium. Semiheavy water, HDO, occurs naturally in regular water at a proportion of about 1 molecule in 3,200 (each hydrogen has a probability of 1 in 6,400 of being D). Heavy water, D₂O, by comparison, occurs naturally at a proportion of about 1 molecule in 41 million (i.e., 1 in 6,400²). This makes semiheavy water actually far more prevalent than 'normal' heavy water. Depiction of a hydrogen atom showing the diameter as about twice the Bohr model radius. ... A dynamic equilibrium occurs when two reversible processes occur at the same rate. ...

Heavy-oxygen water

A common type of heavy-oxygen water H₂¹⁸O is available commercially for use as a non-radioactive isotopic tracer (see doubly-labeled water for discussion), and qualifies as "heavy water" insofar as having a higher density than normal water (in this case, similar density to deuterium oxide). At higher expense (due to the greater difficulty in separation of O-17, a less common heavy isotope of oxygen), water is available in which the oxygen is enriched to varying degrees with ¹⁷O. However, these types of heavy-isotope water are rarely referred to as "heavy water", as they do not contain the deuterium which gives D₂O its characteristically different nuclear and biological properties. Heavy-oxygen waters with normal hydrogen, for example, would not be expected to show any toxicity whatsoever (see discussion of toxicity below). This article is about the chemical element and its most stable form, or dioxygen. ... Doubly-labeled water, or doubly labeled water is water in which both the hydrogen and the oxygen has been partly or completely replaced for tracking purposes (i. ...

Physical properties (with comparison to light water)

^{[citation needed]} The millilitre is the equivalent of a cubic centimetre. ... The pascal (symbol: Pa) is the SI unit of pressure. ... This article is about the unit of time. ... Microjoule is a team that builds ultra-efficient vehicles. ... The calorie is a unit of energy, in particular heat. ... The mole (symbol: mol) is the SI base unit that measures an amount of substance. ...

No physical properties are listed for "pure" semi-heavy water, because it cannot be isolated in bulk quantities. In the liquid state, a few water molecules are always in an ionised state, which means the hydrogen atoms can exchange among different oxygen atoms. A sample of hypothetical "pure" semi-heavy water would rapidly transform into a dynamic mixture of 25% light water, 25% heavy water, and 50% semi-heavy water.

Physical properties obvious by inspection: Heavy water is 10.6% more dense than ordinary water, a difference which is nearly impossible to notice in a sample of it (which otherwise looks and tastes exactly like normal water). One of the few ways to demonstrate heavy water's physically different properties without equipment, is to freeze a sample and drop it into normal water. Ice made from heavy water sinks in normal water. If the normal water is ice-cold this phenomenon may be observed long enough for a good demonstration, since heavy-water ice has a slightly higher melting-temperature (3.8 °C) than normal ice, and thus holds up very well in ice-cold normal water. ^[2]

History

Harold Urey discovered the isotope deuterium in 1931 and was later able to concentrate it in water.^[3] Urey's mentor Gilbert Newton Lewis isolated the first sample of pure heavy water by electrolysis in 1933. George de Hevesy and Hoffer used heavy water in 1934 in one of the first biological tracer experiments, to estimate the rate of turnover of water in the human body. The history of large-quantity production and use of heavy water in early nuclear experiments is given below.^[4] Harold Urey, circa 1963. ... Deuterium, also called heavy hydrogen, is a stable isotope of hydrogen with a natural abundance in the oceans of Earth of approximately one atom in 6500 of hydrogen (~154 PPM). ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lewis in the Berkeley Lab Gilbert Newton Lewis (October 23, 1875-March 23, 1946) was a famous physical chemist. ... In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a method of separating chemically bonded elements and compounds by passing an electric current through them. ... Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... George Charles de Hevesy (born as Hevesy GyÃ¶rgy, also known as Georg Karl von Hevesy) (August 1, 1885 in Budapest â€“ July 5, 1966) was a Hungarian chemist who was important in the development of the tracer method where radioactive tracers are used to study chemical processes, e. ...

Effect on biological systems

Heavy isotopes of chemical elements have very slightly different chemical behaviors, but for most elements the differences in chemical behavior between isotopes are far too small to use, or even detect. For hydrogen, however, this is not true. The larger chemical isotope-effects seen with deuterium and tritium manifest because bond energies in chemistry are determined in quantum mechanics by equations in which the quantity of reduced mass of the nucleus and electrons appears. This quantity is altered in heavy-hydrogen compounds (of which deuterium oxide is the most common and familiar) far more than for heavy-isotope substitution in other chemical elements. This isotope effect of heavy hydrogen is magnified further in biological systems, which are very sensitive to small changes in the solvent properties of water. Tritium (symbol T or Â³H) is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. ... Reduced mass is an algebraic term of the form that simplifies an equation of the form The reduced mass is typically used as a relationship between two system elements in parallel, such as resistors; whether these be in the electrical, thermal, hydraulic, or mechanical domains. ...

Heavy water is the only known chemical substance which affects the period of circadian oscillations, consistently increasing them. The effect is seen in unicellular organisms, green plants, isopods, insects, birds, mice, and hamsters. The mechanism is unknown.^[5] A circadian rhythm is a roughly-24-hour cycle in the physiological processes of living beings, including plants, animals, fungi and cyanobacteria. ...

To perform their tasks, enzymes rely on their finely tuned networks of hydrogen bonds, both in the active center with their substrates, and outside the active center, to stabilize their tertiary structures. As a hydrogen bond with deuterium is slightly stronger than one involving ordinary hydrogen, in a highly deuterated environment, some normal reactions in cells are disrupted. Ribbon diagram of the enzyme TIM, surrounded by the space-filling model of the protein. ... An example of a quadruple hydrogen bond between a self-assembled dimer complex reported by Meijer and coworkers. ... In biochemistry and chemistry, the tertiary structure of a protein or any other macromolecule is its three-dimensional structure, as defined by the atomic coordinates. ...

Particularly hard-hit by heavy water are the delicate assemblies of mitotic spindle formation necessary for cell division in eukaryotes. Plants stop growing and seeds do not germinate when given only heavy water, because heavy water stops eukaryotic cell division. Micrograph showing condensed chromosomes in blue and the mitotic spindle in green during prometaphase of mitosis The mitotic spindle (a. ... Mitosis divides genetic information during cell division. ... Kingdoms Animalia - Animals Fungi Plantae - Plants Chromalveolata Protista Alternative phylogeny Unikonta Opisthokonta Metazoa Choanozoa Eumycota Amoebozoa Bikonta Apusozoa Cabozoa Rhizaria Excavata Corticata Archaeplastida Chromalveolata Animals, plants, fungi, and protists are eukaryotes (IPA: ), organisms whose cells are organized into complex structures by internal membranes and a cytoskeleton. ...

Effect on animals

Experiments in mice, rats, and dogs^[6] have shown that a degree of 25% deuteration causes (sometimes irreversible) sterility, because neither gametes nor zygotes can develop. High concentrations of heavy water (90%) rapidly kills fish, tadpoles, flatworms, and drosophila. Mammals such as rats given heavy water to drink die after a week, at a time when their body water approaches about 50% deuteration. The mode of death appears to be the same as that in cytotoxic poisoning (such as chemotherapy) or in acute radiation syndrome (though deuterium is not radioactive), and is due to deuterium's action in generally inhibiting cell division. Deuterium oxide is used to enhance boron neutron capture therapy.^[6] It is more toxic to malignant cells than normal cells but the concentrations needed are too high for regular use.^[6] As in chemotherapy, deuterium-poisoned mammals die of a failure of bone marrow (bleeding and infection) and intestinal-barrier functions (diarrhea and fluid loss). A gamete (from Ancient Greek Î³Î±Î¼ÎµÏ„Î·Ï‚; translated gamete = wife, gametes = husband) is a cell that fuses with another gamete during fertilization (conception) in organisms that reproduce sexually. ... For other meanings see Zygote (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Fish (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Tadpole (disambiguation). ... Classes Monogenea Trematoda Cestoda Turbellaria Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Platyhelminthes Wikispecies has information related to: Platyhelminthes The flatworms (Phylum Platyhelminthes from the Greek platy, meaning flat and helminth, meaning worm) are a phylum of relatively simple soft-bodied invertebrate animals. ... Type species Drosophila funebris (Fabricius, 1787) Drosophila is a genus of small flies, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called fruit flies, or more appropriately vinegar flies, wine flies, pomace flies, grape flies, and picked fruit-flies, a reference to the characteristic of many species to linger... This article is about rats. ... Cytotoxicity is the quality of being poisonous to cells. ... Chemotherapy, in its most general sense, refers to treatment of disease by chemicals that kill cells, specifically those of micro-organisms or cancer. ... Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is an experimental form of radiotherapy that utilizes a neutron beam that interacts with boron injected to a patient. ... In medicine, diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea (see spelling differences), refers to frequent loose or liquid bowel movements. ...

Notwithstanding the problems of plants and animals in living with too much deuterium, prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria (which do not have the mitotic problems induced by deuterium) may be grown and propagated in fully deuterated conditions, resulting in replacement of all hydrogen atoms in the bacterial proteins and DNA with the deuterium isotope.^[6] Full replacement with heavy atom isotopes can be accomplished in higher organisms with other non-radioactive heavy isotopes (such as carbon-13, nitrogen-15, and oxygen-18), but this cannot be done for the stable heavy isotope of hydrogen. Prokaryotes are unicellular (in rare cases, multicellular) organisms without a nucleus. ...

Toxicity in humans

Because it would take a very great deal of heavy water to replace 25% to 50% of a human being's body water (which in turn is 70% of body weight) with heavy water, accidental or intentional poisoning with heavy water is unlikely to the point of practical disregard. For a poisoning, large amounts of heavy water would need to be ingested without significant normal water intake for many days to produce any noticeable toxic effects (although in a few tests, volunteers drinking large amounts of heavy water have reported dizziness, a possible effect of density changes in the fluid in the inner ear). For example, a 70 kg human containing 50 kg of water and drinking 3 liters of pure heavy water per day, would need to do this for almost 5 days to reach 25% deuteration, and for about 11 days to approach 50% deuteration. Thus, it would take a week of drinking nothing but pure heavy water for a human to begin to feel ill, and 10 days to 2 weeks (depending on water intake) for severe poisoning and death. In the highly unlikely event that a human were to receive a toxic dose of heavy water, the treatment would involve the use of intravenous water replacement (due to possible intestinal dysfunction and problems with absorption of fluids). This would be done via 0.9% (normal physiologic) saline solution with other salts as needed, perhaps in conjunction with diuretics. For other uses, see Poison (disambiguation). ... A diuretic is any drug that tends to increase the flow of urine from the body (diuresis). ...

Oral doses of heavy water in the multi-gram range, along with heavy oxygen ¹⁸O, are routinely used in human metabolic experiments. See doubly-labeled water testing. Since 1 in every 6400 hydrogen atoms is deuterium, a 50 kg human containing 32 kg of body water would normally contain enough deuterium (about 1.1 gram) to make 5.5 grams of pure heavy water, so roughly this dose is required to double the amount of deuterium in the body. Doubly-labeled water, or doubly labeled water is water in which both the hydrogen and the oxygen has been partly or completely replaced for tracking purposes (i. ...

Confused report of a "heavy water" contamination incident

In 1990, a disgruntled employee at the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station in Canada obtained a sample (estimated as about a "half cup") of heavy water from the primary heat transport loop of the nuclear reactor, and loaded it into the employee water cooler. Eight employees drank some of the contaminated water. The incident was discovered when employees began leaving bioassay urine samples with elevated tritium levels. The quantity of heavy water involved was far below levels which could induce heavy water toxicity per se, but several employees received elevated radiation doses from tritium and neutron-activated chemicals in the water.^[7] This was not an incident of heavy water poisoning, but rather radiation poisoning from other isotopes in the heavy water. Some news services were not careful to distinguish these points, and some of the public was left with the impression that heavy water is normally radioactive and more severely toxic than it is. Even if pure heavy water had been used in the water cooler indefinitely, it is not likely the incident would have been detected or caused harm, since no employees would be expected to get as much as 25% of their daily drinking water from such a source.^[8] Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station is a Canadian nuclear power station located in Point Lepreau, New Brunswick. ... Also known as a biological assay, a bioassay is a measurement of the effects of a substance on living organisms. ... Tritium (symbol T or Â³H) is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. ...

Production

On Earth, semiheavy water, HDO, occurs naturally in regular water at a proportion of about 1 molecule in 3200. This means that 1 in 6400 hydrogen atoms is deuterium, which is 1 part in 3200 by weight (hydrogen weight). The HDO may be separated from regular water by distillation or electrolysis and also by various chemical exchange processes, all of which exploit a kinetic isotope effect. (For more information about the isotopic distribution of deuterium in water, see Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water.) This article is about Earth as a planet. ... Laboratory distillation set-up: 1: Heat source 2: Still pot 3: Still head 4: Thermometer/Boiling point temperature 5: Condenser 6: Cooling water in 7: Cooling water out 8: Distillate/receiving flask 9: Vacuum/gas inlet 10: Still receiver 11: Heat control 12: Stirrer speed control 13: Stirrer/heat plate... In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a method of separating chemically bonded elements and compounds by passing an electric current through them. ... The kinetic isotope effect (KIE) is a variation in the reaction rate of a chemical reaction when an atom in one of the reactants is replaced by one of its isotopes. ... VSMOW, or Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water, is an isotopic water standard defined in 1968 by the International Atomic Energy Agency. ...

The difference in mass between the two hydrogen isotopes translates into a difference in the zero-point energy and thus into a slight difference in the speed at which the reaction proceeds. Once HDO becomes a significant fraction of the water, heavy water will become more prevalent as water molecules trade hydrogen atoms very frequently. To produce pure heavy water by distillation or electrolysis requires a large cascade of stills or electrolysis chambers, and consumes large amounts of power, so the chemical methods are generally preferred. The most important chemical method is the Girdler sulfide process. In physics, the zero-point energy is the lowest possible energy that a quantum mechanical physical system may possess and is the energy of the ground state of the system. ... The Girdler Sulfide process is an industrial production method for making heavy water (dideuterium oxide), an important component of many nuclear reactors because it acts as a neutron moderator. ...

United States

In 1953, the United States began using heavy water in plutonium production reactors at the Savannah River Site. The first of the five heavy water reactors came online in 1953, and the last was placed in cold shutdown in 1996. The SRS reactors were heavy water reactors so that they could produce both plutonium and tritium for the US nuclear weapons program. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... This article is about the radioactive element. ... The Savannah River Site is a nuclear materials processing center in the US state of South Carolina, located on land adjacent to the Savannah River near Augusta, Georgia. ... This article is about the radioactive element. ... Tritium (symbol T or Â³H) is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. ...

The U.S. developed the Girdler Sulfide chemical exchange production process which was first demonstrated on a large scale at the Dana, Indiana plant in 1945 and at the Savannah River Plant, South Carolina in 1952. The SRP was operated by DuPont for the USDOE until April 1, 1989 at which time the operation was taken over by Westinghouse. The Girdler Sulfide process is an industrial production method for making heavy water (dideuterium oxide), an important component of many nuclear reactors because it acts as a neutron moderator. ... Dana is a town located in Vermillion County, Indiana. ... Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, or du Pont may refer to: // E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont), the worlds second largest chemical company Du Pont Motors Gilbert Dupont, a French stock brokerage part of retail banking network CrÃ©dit du Nord ST Dupont, a French manufacturer of... is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... Westinghouse Electric Company is a nuclear reactor technology business company, providing nuclear services, power plants, nuclear fuel, and fuel handling equipment to utilities and governments in the United States, Europe, and Asia. ...

Norway

In 1934, Norsk Hydro built the first commercial heavy water plant at Vemork, Tinn, with a capacity of 12 tonnes per year. From 1940 and throughout World War II, the plant was under German control and the allies decided to destroy the plant and its heavy water to inhibit German development of nuclear weapons. In late 1942, a raid by British paratroopers failed when the gliders they were in crashed. All the raiders were killed in the crash or shot by German army troops. But in the night of 27 February 1943 Operation Gunnerside succeeded. Norwegian commandos managed to demolish small but key bits of the electrolytic cells, dumping the accumulated heavy water down the factory drains. Arguably^[clarify] (see below) this prevented Germany from building a nuclear reactor (German nuclear weapons would not have automatically followed the reactor for many reasons^[clarify]). The Norsk Hydro operation is one of the great commando/sabotage operations of the war. Image File history File links Flag_of_Norway. ... Year 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Norsk Hydro ASA is a Norwegian oil and energy and integrated aluminium company, headquartered in Oslo. ... The Vemork hydroelectric plant, site of the heavy water production Vemork, a small community in Norway, close to the city Rjukan and within the Tinn municipality, in the county of Telemark. ... County Telemark District Ã˜st-Telemark Municipality NO-0826 Administrative centre Rjukan Mayor (2005) Erik Haatvedt (Ap) Official language form Neutral Area - Total - Land - Percentage Ranked 28 2,045 kmÂ² 1,854 kmÂ² 0. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅjÅ Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the game, see Paratrooper (video game). ... is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Vemork hydroelectric plant, site of the heavy water production In World War II, Nazi Germany investigated the possibility of building an atomic bomb. ...

On 16 November 1943, the allied air forces dropped more than 400 bombs on the site. The allied air raid prompted the Nazi government to move all available heavy water to Germany for safekeeping. On 20 February 1944, a Norwegian partisan sank the ferry M/F Hydro carrying the heavy water across Lake Tinn, at the cost of 14 Norwegian civilians, and most of the heavy water was presumably lost. A few of the barrels were only half full, and therefore could float, and may have been salvaged and transported to Germany. (These events were dramatized in the 1965 movie, The Heroes of Telemark.) is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Heroes of Telemark is a 1965 war film based on the story of the Norwegian heavy water sabotage during World War II. Norwegian resistance fighters sabotage the Nazi German effort to produce heavy water for German atomic research during World War II. Snowy Norwegian locations serve as a backdrop for...

However, recent investigation of production records at Norsk Hydro and analysis of an intact barrel that was salvaged in 2004 revealed that although the barrels in this shipment contained water of pH 14 — indicative of the alkaline electrolytic refinement process — they did not contain high concentrations of D₂O. Despite the apparent size of shipment, the total quantity of pure heavy water was quite small, most barrels only containing between 1/2–1% pure heavy water. The Germans would have needed a total of about 5 tons of heavy water to get a nuclear reactor running. The manifest clearly indicated that there was only half a ton of heavy water being transported to Germany. The Hydro was carrying far too little heavy water for even one reactor, let alone the 10 or more tons needed to make enough plutonium for a nuclear weapon. The Hydro shipment on 20 February 1944 was probably destined for an experimental reactor project. Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see PH (disambiguation). ... is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Canada

As part of its contribution to the Manhattan Project, Canada built and operated a 6 tonnes per year electrolytic heavy water plant at Trail, BC, which started operation in 1943. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... This article is about the World War II nuclear project. ... Trail ( ) is a city in the Kootenay region of the interior of British Columbia, Canada. ...

The Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) design of power reactor requires large quantities of heavy water to act as a neutron moderator and coolant. AECL ordered two heavy water plants which were built and operated in Atlantic Canada at Glace Bay (by Deuterium of Canada Limited) and Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia (by General Electric Canada). These plants proved to have significant design, construction and production problems and so AECL built the Bruce Heavy Water Plant, which it later sold to Ontario Hydro, to ensure a reliable supply of heavy water for future power plants. The two Nova Scotia plants were shut down in 1985 when their production proved to be unnecessary. Atomic Energy of Canada Limited or AECL is a Canadian federal Crown corporation with the responsibility of managing Canadas national nuclear energy research and development program, including the advancement and support of CANDU reactor technology which was developed at AECL starting in the 1950s. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... HI Eric u suck!!!!!!!!!!!!! from,Trevor and Dalton ... Glace Bay (2001 pop. ... Port Hawkesbury, on Cape Breton Island Port Hawkesbury (2001 population 3,701) is a town located on the southwestern end of Cape Breton Island, on the north shore of the Strait of Canso, in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. ... Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (Latin: One defends and the other conquers) Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Regional Municipality Official languages English (de facto) Government Lieutenant-Governor Mayann E. Francis Premier Rodney MacDonald (PC) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament House seats 11 Senate seats 10 Confederation July 1, 1867... The Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario was established in 1906 by the provincial Power Commission Act to build transmission lines to supply municipal utilities with electricity generated by private companies already operating at Niagara Falls. ...

The Bruce Heavy Water Plant in Ontario was the world's largest heavy water production plant with a capacity of 700 tonnes per year. It used the Girdler sulfide process to produce heavy water, and required 340,000 tonnes of feed water to produce one tonne of heavy water. It was part of a complex that included 8 CANDU reactors which provided heat and power for the heavy water plant. The site was located at Douglas Point in Bruce County on Lake Huron where it had access to the waters of the Great Lakes. This article is about the Canadian province. ... The Girdler Sulfide process is an industrial production method for making heavy water (dideuterium oxide), an important component of many nuclear reactors because it acts as a neutron moderator. ... Qinshan Phase III Units 1 & 2, located in Zhejiang China: Two CANDU 6 reactors, designed by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), owned and operated by the Third Qinshan Nuclear Power Company Limited. ... Douglas Point was the second CANDU PHWR built, after the successful Nuclear Power Demonstrator(NPD). ... Bruce County is a county in western Canada, and includes the Bruce Peninsula. ... Ipperwash Beach, Lake Huron. ... The Great Lakes from space The Great Lakes are a group of five large lakes on or near the United States-Canadian border. ...

The Bruce plant was commissioned in 1979 to provide heavy water for a large increase in Ontario's nuclear power generation. The plants proved to be significantly more efficient than planned and only three of the planned four units were eventually commissioned. In addition, the nuclear power programme was slowed down and effectively stopped due to a perceived oversupply of electricity, later shown to be temporary, in 1993. Improved efficiency in the use and recycling of heavy water plus the over-production at Bruce left Canada with enough heavy water for its anticipated future needs. Also, the Girdler process involves large amounts of hydrogen sulfide, raising environmental concerns if there should be a release. The Bruce heavy-water plant was shut down in 1997, after which the plant was gradually dismantled and the site cleared. Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... Hydrogen sulfide (or hydrogen sulphide) is the chemical compound with the formula H2S. This colorless, toxic and flammable gas is responsible for the foul odour of rotten eggs and flatulence. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ...

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) is currently researching other more efficient and environmentally benign processes for creating heavy water. This is essential for the future of the CANDU reactors since heavy water represents about 20% of the capital cost of each reactor. Atomic Energy of Canada Limited or AECL is a Canadian federal Crown corporation with the responsibility of managing Canadas national nuclear energy research and development program, including the advancement and support of CANDU reactor technology which was developed at AECL starting in the 1950s. ...

India

India is the world's second largest producer of heavy water through its Heavy Water Board. Image File history File links Flag_of_India. ...

Iran

On August 26, 2006, Iranian President Ahmadinejad inaugurated an expansion of the country's heavy-water plant near Arak. Iran has indicated that the heavy-water production facility will operate in tandem with a 40 MW research reactor that has a scheduled completion date in 2009.^[9] In an interview which aired on the Iranian News Channel (IRINN) on August 27, 2006, Iranian Nuclear Chief Mohammad Sa'idi claimed that heavy water could be used to treat AIDS and cancer. Daily consumption was recommended.^[10] Image File history File links Flag_of_Iran. ... is the 238th day of the year (239th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... , sometimes also transcribed into English as Mahmud, Mahmood, Ahmadinezhad, Ahmadi-Nejad, Ahmadi Nejad (Persian: ; born October 28, 1956), is the sixth president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. ... Arak, (in Persian: Ø§Ø±Ø§Ú©) previously known as Soltan-abad, is the center of Markazi province, Iran. ... 2009 (MMIX) will be a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 239th day of the year (240th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Other countries

Argentina is another declared producer of heavy water, using an ammonia/hydrogen exchange based plant supplied by Switzerland's Sulzer company. Image File history File links Flag_of_Argentina. ...

Romania also produces heavy water at the Drobeta Girdler Sulfide plant and has exported from time to time. Image File history File links Flag_of_Romania. ...

France operated a small plant during the 1950s and 1960s. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...

United Kingdom The Department of Atomic Energy built a station at Loch Morar in 1947, possibly investigating using the loch as a source of heavy water.^[11] Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Loch Morar is a body of fresh water on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands. ...

Applications

Nuclear magnetic resonance

Deuterium oxide is used in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy when the solvent of interest is water and the nuclide of interest is hydrogen. This is because the signal from the water solvent would interfere with the signal from the molecule of interest. Deuterium has a different magnetic moment from hydrogen and therefore does not contribute to the NMR signal at the hydrogen resonance frequency. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy most commonly known as NMR Spectroscopy is the name given to the technique which exploits the magnetic properties of nuclei. ... A nuclide (from lat. ... A bar magnet. ... This article is about the chemistry of hydrogen. ...

Neutron moderator

Heavy water is used in certain types of nuclear reactors where it acts as a neutron moderator to slow down neutrons so that they can react with the uranium in the reactor. The CANDU reactor uses this design. Light water also acts as a moderator but because light water absorbs more neutrons than heavy water, reactors using light water must use enriched uranium rather than natural uranium, otherwise criticality is impossible. The use of heavy water essentially increases the efficiency of the nuclear reaction. Nuclear power station at Leibstadt, Switzerland. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about the chemical element. ... Qinshan Phase III Units 1 & 2, located in Zhejiang China: Two CANDU 6 reactors, designed by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), owned and operated by the Third Qinshan Nuclear Power Company Limited. ... Properties In physics, the neutron is a subatomic particle with no net electric charge and a mass of 940 MeV/c² (1. ... These pie-graphs showing the relative proportions of uranium-238 (blue) and uranium-235 (red) at different levels of enrichment. ... For other uses of critical mass, see critical mass (disambiguation). ...

Because of this, heavy water reactors will be more efficient at breeding plutonium (from uranium-238) or uranium-233 (from thorium-232) than a comparable light-water reactor, leading them to be of greater concern in regards to nuclear proliferation. The breeding and extraction of plutonium can be a relatively rapid and cheap route to building a nuclear weapon, as chemical separation of plutonium from fuel is easier than isotopic separation of U-235 from natural uranium. Heavy water moderated research reactors or specifically-built plutonium breeder reactors have been used for this purpose by most, if not all, states which possess nuclear weapons, although historically the first nuclear weapons were produced without it. (Pure carbon may be used as a moderator, even in unenriched uranium nuclear reactors. Thus, in the U.S., the first experimental atomic reactor (1942), as well as the Manhattan Project Hanford production reactors which produced the plutonium for the Trinity test and Fat Man bombs, all used pure carbon neutron moderators and functioned with neither enriched uranium nor heavy water). Heavy water reactors use heavy water as a neutron moderator. ... This article is about the radioactive element. ... There are two objects with this name: Unterseeboot 238 Uranium-238, the most common isotope of uranium This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Uranium-233 is a fissile artificial isotope of uranium, which is proposed as a nuclear fuel. ... Thorium 232 is a naturally occurring isotope of thorium. ... World map with nuclear weapons development status represented by color. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 kilometers (11 mi) above the hypocenter A nuclear weapon derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions of fusion or fission. ... // Isotope separation is the process of concentrating specific isotopes of a chemical element by removing other isotopes, for example separating natural uranium into enriched uranium and depleted uranium. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 kilometers (11 mi) above the hypocenter A nuclear weapon derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions of fusion or fission. ... This article is about the World War II nuclear project. ... The Trinity test was the first test of a nuclear weapon, conducted by the United States on July 16, 1945 at , thirty miles (48 km) southeast of Socorro on what is now White Sands Missile Range, headquartered near Alamogordo, New Mexico. ... This article is about the nuclear weapon used in World War II. For other uses, see Fat Man (disambiguation). ...

There is no evidence that civilian heavy water power reactors, such as the CANDU or Atucha designs, have been used for military production of fissile materials. In states which do not already possess nuclear weapons, the nuclear material at these facilities is under IAEA safeguards to discourage any such diversion. The CANDU reactor is a pressurized-heavy water, natural-uranium power reactor designed in the 1960s by a partnership between Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario as well as several private industry participants. ... Atucha I is one of two operational nuclear power plants of Argentina. ... IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), established as an autonomous organization on July 29, 1957, seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for military purposes. ...

Due to its potential for use in nuclear weapons programs, the possession or import/export of large industrial quantities of heavy water are subject to government control in several countries. Suppliers of heavy water and heavy water production technology typically apply IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) administered safeguards and material accounting to heavy water. (In Australia, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Safeguards) Act 1987.) In the U.S. and Canada, non-industrial quantities of heavy water (i.e., in the gram to kg range) are routinely available through chemical supply dealers, and directly commercial companies such as the world's former major producer Ontario Hydro, without special license. Current (2006) cost of a kilogram of 99.98% reactor-purity heavy water, is about $600 to $700. Smaller quantities of reasonable purity (99.9%) may be purchased from chemical supply houses at prices of roughly $1 per gram. The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), established as an autonomous organization on July 29, 1957, seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for military purposes. ... The Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario was established in 1906 by the provincial Power Commission Act to build transmission lines to supply municipal utilities with electricity generated by private companies already operating at Niagara Falls. ...

Neutrino detector

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) in Sudbury, Ontario used 1000 tonnes of heavy water on loan from Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. The neutrino detector is 6800 feet underground in a deep mine, in order to shield it from muons produced by cosmic rays. SNO was built to answer the question of whether or not electron-type neutrinos produced by fusion in the Sun (the only type the Sun should be producing directly, according to theory) might be able to turn into other types of neutrinos on the way to Earth. SNO detects the Čerenkov radiation in the water from high-energy electrons produced from electron-type neutrinos as they undergo reactions with neutrons in deuterium, turning them into protons and electrons (only the electrons move fast enough to be detected in this manner). SNO also detects the same radiation from neutrino↔electron scattering events, which again produces high energy electrons. These two reactions are produced only by electron-type neutrinos. The use of deuterium is critical to the SNO function, because all three "flavours" (types) of neutrinos^[12] may be detected in a third type of reaction, neutrino-disintegration, in which a neutrino of any type (electron, muon, or tau) scatters from a deuterium nucleus (deuteron), transferring enough energy to break up the loosely-bound deuteron into a free neutron and proton. This event is detected when the free neutron is absorbed by ³⁵Cl⁻ present from NaCl which has been deliberately dissolved in the heavy water, causing emission of characteristic capture gamma rays. Thus, in this experiment, heavy water not only provides the transparent medium necessary to produce and visualize Čerenkov radiation, but it also provides deuterium to detect exotic mu type (μ) and tau (τ) neutrinos, as well as a non-absorbent moderator medium to preserve free neutrons from this reaction, until they can be absorbed by an easily-detected neutron-activated isotope. Artists concept of SNOs detector. ... Nickname: Motto: Aedificemus (Latin for Come, let us build together) Coordinates: , Country Province Established 1893 (as Sudbury) 2001 (as Greater Sudbury) Government - Mayor John Rodriguez - Governing Body Greater Sudbury City Council - MPs Raymond Bonin (LPC), Diane Marleau (LPC) - MPPs Rick Bartolucci (OLP), Shelley Martel (NDP) Area - City 3,200 km... This article is about the Canadian province. ... Atomic Energy of Canada Limited or AECL is a Canadian federal Crown corporation with the responsibility of managing Canadas national nuclear energy research and development program, including the advancement and support of CANDU reactor technology which was developed at AECL starting in the 1950s. ... Until somebody writes up an article this link may prove useful : http://www. ... In the Standard Model of particle physics, a muon (Greek μείον = minus) is a semistable fundamental particle with negative electric charge and a spin of 1/2. ... Cosmic rays can loosely be defined as energetic particles originating outside of the Earth. ... For other uses, see Neutrino (disambiguation). ... Sol redirects here. ... ÄŒerenkov radiation glowing in the core of a TRIGA reactor ÄŒerenkov radiation (also spelled Cerenkov or Cherenkov) is electromagnetic radiation emitted when a charged particle passes through an insulator at a speed greater than the speed of light in that medium. ... For other uses, see Neutrino (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Deuterium, also called heavy hydrogen, is a stable isotope of hydrogen with a natural abundance in the oceans of Earth of approximately one atom in 6500 of hydrogen (~154 PPM). ... Deuterium (symbol 2H) is a stable isotope of hydrogen with a natural abundance of one atom in 6500 of hydrogen. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For other uses, see Proton (disambiguation). ...

Metabolic rate testing in physiology/biology

Heavy water is employed as part of a mixture with H₂¹⁸O for a common and safe test of mean metabolic rate in humans and animals undergoing their normal activities. This metabolic test is usually called the doubly-labeled water test. Doubly-labeled water, or doubly labeled water is water in which both the hydrogen and the oxygen has been partly or completely replaced for tracking purposes (i. ...

Space-based non-toxic cooling systems

Heavy water (D₂O) has a similar high heat of fusion to regular water, but freezes at a slightly higher temperature. It has been proposed as a non-toxic heatsink for space based cooling applications, where D₂O ice acts as a heatsink to remove water vapor in air, but without danger that the water vapor will freeze to water-ice, because D₂O ice maintains temperatures too high for this to occur. See U.S. Patent 5,246,061 . Such a system has not yet been tested.

Tritium production

Tritium is an important material in nuclear weapon design for boosted fission weapons and initiators, and also has civilian industrial applications. Some is created in heavy water moderated reactors when deuterium captures a neutron. This reaction has a small cross-section and produces only small amounts of tritium, although enough so that cleaning tritium from the moderator may be desirable after several years to reduce the risk of tritium escape and radiation exposure. Tritium (symbol T or Â³H) is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. ... The first nuclear weapons, though large, cumbersome and inefficient, provided the basic design building blocks of all future weapons. ... Boosted fission weapons are a type of nuclear bomb that uses a small amount of fusion fuel to increase the rate, and thus yield, of a fission reaction. ... The neutron cross section of an element is the effective cross sectional area that an atom of that element presents to a neutron. ...

Production of large amounts of tritium in this way would require reactors with very high neutron fluxes, or with a very high proportion of heavy water to nuclear fuel and very low neutron absorption by other reactor material. The tritium would then have to be recovered by isotope separation from a much larger quantity of deuterium, unlike tritium production from lithium-6 (the present method of tritium production), where only chemical separation is needed. Nuclear Fuel Process A graph comparing nucleon number against binding energy Nuclear fuel is any material that can be consumed to derive nuclear energy, by analogy to chemical fuel that is burned to derive energy. ... Neutron absorption is the process in nuclear physics whereby a neutron is absorbed into the nucleus of an atom. ... Isotope separation is the process of concentrating specific isotopes of a chemical element by removing other isotopes, for example separating natural uranium into enriched uranium and depleted uranium. ... General Name, Symbol, Number lithium, Li, 3 Chemical series alkali metals Group, Period, Block 1, 2, s Appearance silvery white/gray Atomic mass 6. ...

Deuterium's absorption cross section for thermal neutrons is .52 millibarns, while oxygen-16's is .19 millibarns and oxygen-17's is .24 barn. ¹⁷O makes up .038% of natural oxygen, which has an overall absorption cross section of .28 millibarns. Therefore in D₂O with natural oxygen, 21% of neutron captures are on oxygen, a proportion that may rise further as ¹⁷O accumulates from neutron capture on ¹⁶O. Also, ¹⁷O emits an alpha particle on capture, producing radioactive carbon-14. This article does not cite its references or sources. ... A barn (symbol b) is a unit of area. ... General Name, Symbol, Number oxygen, O, 8 Chemical series Nonmetals, chalcogens Group, Period, Block 16, 2, p Appearance transparent (gas) very pale blue (liquid) Atomic mass 15. ... Oxygen (O) Standard atomic mass: 15. ... This article is about the chemical element and its most stable form, or dioxygen. ... The process of neutron capture can proceed in two ways - as a rapid process (an r-process) or a slow process (an s-process). ... An alpha particle is deflected by a magnetic field Alpha radiation consists of helium-4 nuclei and is readily stopped by a sheet of paper. ... Carbon-14 is the radioactive isotope of carbon discovered February 27, 1940, by Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben. ...

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