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The heavy water coolant is kept under pressure to avoid boiling, allowing it to reach higher temperature (mostly) without forming steam bubbles, exactly as for a pressurized water reactor (PWR). While heavy water is very expensive to isolate from ordinary water (often referred to as light water in contrast to heavy water), its low absorption of ...
Heavy water is less dissociated than light water at given temperature, and the true concentration of D + ions is less than H + ions would be for light water at the same temperature. The same is true of OD − vs. OH − ions. For heavy water Kw D 2 O (25.0 °C) = 1.35 × 10 −15, and [D + ] must equal [OD − ] for neutral water
The light-water reactor (LWR) is a type of thermal-neutron reactor that uses normal water, as opposed to heavy water, as both its coolant and neutron moderator; furthermore a solid form of fissile elements is used as fuel. Thermal-neutron reactors are the most common type of nuclear reactor, and light-water reactors are the most common type of ...
A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan, India and Canada). In a PWR, water is used both as a neutron moderator and as coolant fluid for the reactor core.
About 1/3 are boiling water reactors where the primary coolant undergoes phase transition to steam inside the reactor. About 2/3 are pressurized water reactors at even higher pressure. Current reactors stay under the critical point at around 374 °C and 218 bar where the distinction between liquid and gas disappears, which limits thermal ...
Water (sometimes called "light water" in this context) is the most commonly used moderator (roughly 75% of the world's reactors). Solid graphite (20% of reactors) and heavy water (5% of reactors) are the main alternatives. [1] Beryllium has also been used in some experimental types, and hydrocarbons have been suggested as another possibility.
Range of possible CANDU fuel cycles: CANDU reactors can accept a variety of fuel types, including the used fuel from light-water reactors. A heavy-water design can sustain a chain reaction with a lower concentration of fissile atoms than light-water reactors, allowing it to use some alternative fuels; for example, "recovered uranium" (RU) from ...
The Advanced CANDU Reactor is a hybrid CANDU design that retains the heavy water moderator but replaces the heavy water coolant with conventional light water coolant, significantly reducing heavy water costs compared to traditional CANDU designs but losing the characteristic CANDU capability of using unenriched natural uranium as fuel. BARC ...