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.
