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HeavywaterreactorWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Heavywaterreactor
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Apressurizedheavywaterreactor(PHWR)isanuclearpowerreactor,commonlyusingunenriched
naturaluraniumasitsfuel,thatusesheavywater(deuteriumoxideD2O)asitscoolantandmoderator.The
heavywatercoolantiskeptunderpressure,allowingittobeheatedtohighertemperatureswithoutboiling,
muchasinapressurizedwaterreactor.Whileheavywaterissignificantlymoreexpensivethanordinary
lightwater,itcreatesgreatlyenhancedneutroneconomy,allowingthereactortooperatewithoutfuel
enrichmentfacilities(offsettingtheadditionalexpenseoftheheavywater)andenhancingtheabilityofthe
reactortomakeuseofalternatefuelcycles.

Contents
1Purposeofusingheavywater
2Advantagesanddisadvantages
3Nuclearproliferation
4Seealso
5References
6Externallinks

Purposeofusingheavywater
Seealso:nuclearreactorphysics,nuclearfissionandheavywater
Thekeytomaintaininganuclearreactionwithinanuclearreactoristousetheneutronsreleasedduring
fissiontostimulatefissioninothernuclei.Withcarefulcontroloverthegeometryandreactionrates,this
canleadtoaselfsustainingchainreaction,astateknownas"criticality".
Naturaluraniumconsistsofamixtureofvariousisotopes,primarily238Uandamuchsmalleramount
(about0.72%byweight)of235U.[1]238Ucanonlybefissionedbyneutronsthatarerelativelyenergetic,
about1MeVorabove.Noamountof238Ucanbemade"critical",however,sinceitwilltendto
parasiticallyabsorbmoreneutronsthanitreleasesbythefissionprocess.235U,ontheotherhand,can
supportaselfsustainedchainreaction,butduetothelownaturalabundanceof235U,naturaluranium
cannotachievecriticalitybyitself.
The"trick"tomakingaworkingreactoristoslowsomeoftheneutronstothepointwheretheirprobability
ofcausingnuclearfissionin235Uincreasestoalevelthatpermitsasustainedchainreactionintheuranium
asawhole.Thisrequirestheuseofaneutronmoderator,whichabsorbssomeoftheneutrons'kinetic
energy,slowingthemdowntoanenergycomparabletothethermalenergyofthemoderatornuclei
themselves(leadingtotheterminologyof"thermalneutrons"and"thermalreactors").Duringthisslowing
downprocessitisbeneficialtophysicallyseparatetheneutronsfromtheuranium,since238Unucleihave

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anenormousparasiticaffinityforneutronsinthisintermediateenergyrange(areactionknownas
"resonance"absorption).Thisisafundamentalreasonfordesigningreactorswithdiscretesolidfuel
separatedbymoderator,ratherthanemployingamorehomogeneousmixtureofthetwomaterials.
Watermakesanexcellentmoderatorthehydrogenatomsinthewatermoleculesareverycloseinmasstoa
singleneutron,andthecollisionsthushaveaveryefficientmomentumtransfer,similarconceptuallytothe
collisionoftwobilliardballs.However,despitebeingagoodmoderator,waterisrelativelyeffectiveat
absorbingneutrons.Usingwaterasamoderatorwillabsorbsomanyneutronsthattherewillbetoofewleft
toreactwiththesmallamountof235Uinthefuel,againprecludingcriticalityinnaturaluranium.Instead,in
ordertofuelalightwaterreactor,firsttheamountof235Uintheuraniummustbeincreased,producing
enricheduranium,whichgenerallycontainsbetween3%and5%235Ubyweight(thewastefromthis
processisknownasdepleteduranium,consistingprimarilyof238U).Inthisenrichedformthereisenough
235Utoreactwiththewatermoderatedneutronstomaintaincriticality.
Onecomplicationofthisapproachistherequirementtobuildauraniumenrichmentfacility,whichare
generallyexpensivetobuildandoperate.Theyalsopresentanuclearproliferationconcernthesame
systemsusedtoenrichthe235Ucanalsobeusedtoproducemuchmore"pure"weaponsgradematerial
(90%ormore235U),suitableforproducinganuclearbomb.Thisisnotatrivialexercisebyanymeans,but
feasibleenoughthatenrichmentfacilitiespresentasignificantnuclearproliferationrisk.
Analternativesolutiontotheproblemistouseamoderatorthatdoesnotabsorbneutronsasreadilyas
water.Inthiscasepotentiallyalloftheneutronsbeingreleasedcanbemoderatedandusedinreactionswith
the235U,inwhichcasethereisenough235Uinnaturaluraniumtosustaincriticality.Onesuchmoderatoris
heavywater,ordeuteriumoxide.Althoughitreactsdynamicallywiththeneutronsinasimilarfashionto
lightwater(albeitwithlessenergytransferonaverage,giventhatheavyhydrogen,ordeuterium,isabout
twicethemassofhydrogen),italreadyhastheextraneutronthatlightwaterwouldnormallytendtoabsorb.

Advantagesanddisadvantages
TheuseofheavywaterasthemoderatoristhekeytothePHWR(pressurizedheavywaterreactor)system,
enablingtheuseofnaturaluraniumasthefuel(intheformofceramicUO2),whichmeansthatitcanbe
operatedwithoutexpensiveuraniumenrichmentfacilities.ThemechanicalarrangementofthePHWR,
whichplacesmostofthemoderatoratlowertemperatures,isparticularlyefficientbecausetheresulting
thermalneutronsare"morethermal"thanintraditionaldesigns,wherethemoderatornormallyismuch
hotter.ThesefeaturesmeanthataPHWRcanusenaturaluraniumandotherfuels,anddoessomore
efficientlythanlightwaterreactors(LWRs).
Pressurisedheavywaterreactorsdohavesomedrawbacks.Heavywatergenerallycostshundredsofdollars
perkilogram,thoughthisisatradeoffagainstreducedfuelcosts.Thereducedenergycontentofnatural
uraniumascomparedtoenricheduraniumnecessitatesmorefrequentreplacementoffuelthisisnormally
accomplishedbyuseofanonpowerrefuellingsystem.Theincreasedrateoffuelmovementthroughthe
reactoralsoresultsinhighervolumesofspentfuelthaninLWRsemployingenricheduranium.However,
sinceunenricheduraniumfuelaccumulatesalowerdensityoffissionproductsthanenricheduraniumfuel,
itgenerateslessheat,allowingmorecompactstorage.[2]

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Nuclearproliferation
Opponentsofheavywaterreactorssuggestthatsuchreactorsposeamuchgreaterriskofnuclear
proliferationthancomparablelightwaterreactors.Theseconcernsstemfromthefactthatduringnormal
reactoroperation,uranium238inthenaturaluraniumfuelofaheavywaterreactorisconvertedinto
plutonium239,afissilematerialsuitableforuseinnuclearweapons,vianeutroncapturefollowedbytwo
decays.Asaresult,ifthefuelofaheavywaterreactorischangedfrequently,significantamountsof
weaponsgradeplutoniumcanbechemicallyextractedfromtheirradiatednaturaluraniumfuelbynuclear
reprocessing.Inthisway,thematerialsnecessarytoconstructanuclearweaponcanbeobtainedwithout
anyuraniumenrichment.
Inaddition,theuseofheavywaterasamoderatorresultsintheproductionofsmallamountsoftritium
whenthedeuteriumnucleiintheheavywaterabsorbneutrons,averyinefficientreaction.Tritiumis
essentialfortheproductionofboostedfissionweapons,whichinturnenabletheeasierproductionof
thermonuclearweapons,includingneutronbombs.Itisunclearwhetheritispossibletousethismethodto
producetritiumonapracticalscale.
TheproliferationriskofheavywaterreactorswasdemonstratedwhenIndiaproducedtheplutoniumfor
OperationSmilingBuddha,itsfirstnuclearweapontest,byextractionfromthespentfuelofaheavywater
researchreactorknownastheCIRUSreactor.[3]

Seealso
CANDUreactor
Listofnuclearreactors
Pressurizedwaterreactor

References
1. MarionBrnglinghaus."Naturaluranium"
(https://www.euronuclear.org/info/encyclopedia/n/naturaluranium.htm).euronuclear.org.Retrieved11September
2015.
2. "AnInternationalSpentNuclearFuelStorageFacilityExploringaRussianSiteasaPrototype:Proceedingsof
anInternationalWorkshop"(http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11320&page=50).nap.edu.Retrieved
11September2015.
3. "IndiaInternationalPanelonFissileMaterials"(http://fissilematerials.org/countries/india.html).
fissilematerials.org.Retrieved11September2015.

EconomicsofNuclearPowerfromHeavyWaterReactors
(http://www.cised.org/EconomicsofNuclearPowerfromHeavyWaterReactors.pdf)
NuclearPowerProgramStage1PressurisedHeavyWaterReactor
(http://www.dae.gov.in/publ/ar0203/chap1.pdf)

Externallinks
OfficialwebsiteofAECL(http://www.aecl.ca/)
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