Applications of deuterium oxide

Fig 1.Iranian heavy water reactor

The main application of deuterium oxide (heavy water) is in heavy water reactors. Deuterium oxide is used as a moderator and heat transport system in certain types of heavy water nuclear reactors. The other applications of deuterium oxide are as follows:

 

• Deuterated drugs: lower rates of metabolism, and a longer half-life.
• Industry: fiber optics and silicon semiconductors manufacturing.
• Human health: metabolic studies using deuterium oxide tracer.
• Oil & hydrology: studies using deuterium oxide tracer.
• Scientific research: manufacturing deuterated products such as deuterated NMR solvents and deuterium labeled compounds.
• Physics: neutrino detector and fusion process development using deuterium oxide.
• Biological science: probing metabolic characteristics using deuterium oxide.