The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch is requesting feedback from industry on potential reuse of roughly 530,000 gallons of heavy water stored at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) posted a request for information (RFI) July 21 in the Federal Register.
“The purpose of this RFI is to seek input on how DOE-EM can facilitate the beneficial reuse of this material specifically to support domestic scientific, medical, and industrial needs, thereby strengthening the United States (U.S.) isotope supply chain,” according to the notice. DOE might also entertain discussions with interested parties about establishing a heavy water processing site lease.
Comments are due by Sept. 21 and should be emailed to heavywaterrfi@doe.gov. The emailed comments should include the subject line: “EM Heavy Water RFI Collaboration Response.”
Heavy water is used in nuclear reactors, according to an Oak Ridge Associated Universities website. “Heavy water is the same as ordinary water except that the two hydrogen atoms (H-1) of the water molecule are replaced by two deuterium atoms (H-2),” according to the website. “As such, heavy water is sometimes symbolized D2O instead of H2O. Because it has two extra neutrons, heavy water is approximately 10% heavier than ordinary water.”