Question

How does heavy water in a nuclear reactor help to keep the chain reaction going?

Answer 1

Heavy water acts as a neutron moderator. The neutrons formed by fission come off at high velocity, but U-235 absorbs neutrons much more strongly when they are slowed down, so all so-called thermal reactors use a moderator to slow them down until they achieve the average velocity appropriate to the atoms of the moderator which is at approx 300 deg C in a water reactor. Other moderators can be light water or graphite. Heavy water has the advantage over light water that it absorbs fewer neutrons so natural uranium can be used, whilst light water requires enriched uranium fuel. Graphite in a very pure form is also a good moderator but requires a gas coolant, carbon dioxide has been used in magnox and agr reactors, but there is a time limit on the life of the reactor due to graphite corrosion, and these are now obsolete as far as new builds are concerned. The Soviet RBMK reactors used graphite but with a water coolant inside pressure tubes, but after Chernobyl there will certainly be no more of these built