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gus_massa 7 hours ago [-]
It looks interesting, but the article has too few details. Some more info in the first reference https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11936013/ Anyway, IIUC it discuss a research lab method, that may be hard to escale to factory production.
zeristor 2 days ago [-]
I’ve just been swallowed by a rabbit hole on heavy hydrogen, the Norwegian hydro plant used to make fertiliser by splitting water and D being left behind, then them realising they could sell D₂O.
It being used in some medicines, and in semiconductor processes, then in preserving Blue OLED for longer.
pfdietz 1 hours ago [-]
Most heavy water for reactors was made by the Girdler sulfide process. This is what Canada used for CANDU reactors. Since then, they developed a better technology using catalytic exchange columns allowing equilibrium of hydrogen isotopes between hydrogen gas and water. By passing water down such a column counterflowed against hydrogen coming back up, the deuterium is stripped into the downflowing water. If the water is then electrolyzed to make the hydrogen then it becomes enriched in deuterium, with the hydrogen leaving the column depleted.
If Canada ever sells many more CANDU reactors they'll use this sort of technology to make their moderator.
I recall someone found that treating silicon chips with deuterium reduced the rate of electromigration in narrow channels, extending chip life.
ben7799 14 minutes ago [-]
If you are going to fall down that rabbit hole make sure you fall down the part about the history of Deuterium in Norway during World War II.
During the Nazi occupation they were trying to produce Deuterium for their nuclear weapons program in Norway and the Norwegian resistance staged an incredible series of sabotage events to stop them.
"The Winter Fortress" by Neil Bascomb is a really great read about this. The Nazis probably still wouldn't have gotten their first but we all owe something to the Norwegians for their role in making sure they didn't get there at all.
obloid 41 minutes ago [-]
Same, I just started reading "D: Heavy water", Neal Stephenson's new novel which then got me reading about Deuterium and heavy water.
DivingForGold 1 days ago [-]
from the article:
Stable, NON radioactive isotope of hydrogen with one proton and one neutron in its nucleus.
Natural abundance of 0.015% of hydrogen atoms on Earth
It being used in some medicines, and in semiconductor processes, then in preserving Blue OLED for longer.
If Canada ever sells many more CANDU reactors they'll use this sort of technology to make their moderator.
I recall someone found that treating silicon chips with deuterium reduced the rate of electromigration in narrow channels, extending chip life.
During the Nazi occupation they were trying to produce Deuterium for their nuclear weapons program in Norway and the Norwegian resistance staged an incredible series of sabotage events to stop them.
"The Winter Fortress" by Neil Bascomb is a really great read about this. The Nazis probably still wouldn't have gotten their first but we all owe something to the Norwegians for their role in making sure they didn't get there at all.
Stable, NON radioactive isotope of hydrogen with one proton and one neutron in its nucleus. Natural abundance of 0.015% of hydrogen atoms on Earth