The Obama administration, according to multiple news reports, is buying 32 tons of heavy water from Iran as a follow-on to the historic nuclear accord negotiated last year, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee stands to play a key role in storing and selling the material and using a significant amount of it to boost the research capabilities at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS).
Heavy water is a central component in development of nuclear weapons and can be used in some types of nuclear reactors that produce plutonium.
The new deal with the U.S. will reportedly help Iran meet commitments for reducing its stockpile of heavy water and other weapon-making materials.
But it also will help ORNL enhance operations at the SNS. The lab had previously sought to acquire tons of heavy water to augment the production of neutrons for research, but none was readily available. The United States does not currently have a production source.
ORNL will store the heavy water, which is water that contains the hydrogen isotope deuterium, and sell it to qualified buyers through the DOE Isotope Business Office based in Oak Ridge.
No date for its arrival has been confirmed.
