: It slows down neutrons in nuclear reactors without absorbing them. This allows reactors like the Canadian CANDU design to use natural uranium rather than expensive enriched uranium.
Heavy water is approximately than ordinary water. Appearance : Colorless and odorless liquid. Freezing/Boiling Points : It freezes at ) and boils at Heavy Water
: Recent studies indicate it has a slightly sweet taste mediated by human taste receptors, though this was long debated. : It slows down neutrons in nuclear reactors
: Unlike the faint blue tint of regular water in large volumes, heavy water is colorless because its molecular vibrations are shifted into the infrared spectrum. Appearance : Colorless and odorless liquid
Heavy Water: A Manufacturers' Guide for the Hydrogen Century
Heavy water's most famous application is in the nuclear industry, but it serves several high-tech roles:
: It is widely used as a solvent in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy because deuterium does not interfere with the hydrogen signals being measured.