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Deuterium is a stable hydrogen isotope with one proton and one neutron. Hydrogen itself has only one proton. At ordinary temperatures, deuterium (D2) exists in the form of a gas. In its natural state, deuterium is found in all sources of hydrogen, including ordinary water, but in a small fraction, around 0.014%. Water in which most of the hydrogen is replaced by deuterium is called heavy water, or sometimes simply deuterium. In order for water to be usable for nuclear purposes, the concentration of D2 must be above 99.7% [SocChi(69?)]. Although deuterium is not radioactive, it is important in both military and civilian nuclear domains.

Deuterium is a thermonuclear material. In other words, two atoms of deuterium or another atom of deuterium and one of tritium can combine or fuse at very high temperatures, producing a heavier atom, helium, at the same time releasing energy. The deuterium-tritium reaction goes more rapidly at attainable temperatures than do other fusion reactions.

The most common method for producing deuterium or heavy water at the industrial level is the treatment of ordinary water, either by distillation, electrolysis or isotopic exchange to increase the percentage of deuterium. One can also treat industrial hydrogen or the gas from ammonia synthesis, which in turn come from the treatment of natural gas or petroleum. Deuterium itself is extracted from heavy water by electrolysis.

Armaments manufacturers use fusion reaction in boosted fission warheads and in thermonuclear warheads.  In boosted fission warheads, the fusion reaction does not directly increase the power of the warhead. The fusion in this case is used principally to free large quantities of neutrons that increase the efficiency of the fission reaction. Thermonuclear material is always situated in or near the core, which undergoes the fission reaction. In the United States, and very likely in France as well, the military normally use deuterium and tritium in the form of gas, or deuterium and lithium hydride, which generate tritium.

Thermonuclear warheads include at least two stages. A fission warhead begins a fusion reaction that liberates enormous quantities of energy, increasing directly the power of the warhead. The fission warhead itself can be boosted with thermonuclear isotopes to increase its efficiency. For the fusion stage, The Americans use mainly a solid, lithium deuteride 6 (LiD), the equivalent of deuterium and tritium [NRDC 84]. The French may use the deutero-tritiide of lithium 6 (DTLi) [CDRPC 94].

Military researchers also use deuterium and tritium in the targets of accelerators in order to study inertial confinement fusion. This type of fusion can simulate large-scale tests of existing nuclear warheads, and can also help to create "advanced" armaments. These experiments occur notably in the centers of the DAM, at Cesta and at Limeil.

For civilian purposes, researchers use deuterium in experiments on controlled fusion. At Cadarache, the CEA , cooperating with Euratom, is studying controlled fusion by means of the tokamak Tore Supra using a mixture of deuterium and of tritium in plasma form.  Heavy water can slow down or "moderate" neutrons without absorbing many of them. Thus, it is used as a moderator with natural uranium fuel. The reactors that work with this fuel are often chosen for the production of plutonium by countries that want to manufacture bombs because the enrichment of uranium is a difficult and costly stage to carry out. Therefore, the acquisition of heavy water can greatly facilitate the manufacture of a bomb as well as the production of energy.

The CEA, linked with private industry, has studied different processes for the production of heavy water. Four of these processes have been tried out in pilot plants: electrolysis and distillation of water, distillation of liquid hydrogen, H2O-H2S isotopic exchange, and NH3-H2 isotopic exchange. A pilot plant operated at Toulouse for about a year, and a factory at Mazingarbe (Nord) also operated between 1967 and 1972. It was stopped because of an explosion.

Most of the heavy water in France has been imported from Norway and the U.S., according to certain sources, including the heavy water of the Célestin reactors intended to produce military tritium (60-80t of heavy water for each one). The civilian reactors put into use in France before 1967 required 150 tons of heavy water at a maximum.

The plant at Mazingarbe produced only 80 tons at a maximum. France had imported 140 tons from Norway and 168 tons from the U.S. before 1967, the year that Célestin went into service. In order to obtain American heavy water, France "promised" to use it for non-military purposes: the terms of the Norwegian import have not been made public.

Power reactors lose, on the average, 1% of their heavy water per year, but the research reactors and the Célestin likely lose less. Therefore, most of the heavy water acquired before 1967 is still in

France [Milhollin 87-88]. Heavy water is stocked at Saclay and Cadarache.

The French source of gaseous deuterium production is not certain, but it probably occurs at Grenoble (see Grenoble). Another possibility is the production of deuterium as a by-product of the extraction of tritium from the targets at Marcoule. In the 60s, tritium was extracted this way at Saclay [CDRPC94].