3/23    What exactly is heavy water, how do you get it, and how does it
        produce the bomb? I keep hearing about Iran and heavy water but
        I have no chemistry fu and I don't understand how you can magically
        turn water molecules into the bomb.
        \_ Heavy water is D2O instead of H2O.  What is "D"?  It's just
           hydrogen with an extra neutron in it.  D2O has less neutron
           absorbtion cross-section, so reactors which use D2O as a moderator
           have more neutrons available for longer.  SPECULATION:  Because
           more neutrons are available for longer, perhaps it's possible
           to convert more U238 into plutonium in the reactor, which
           is prime bomb-making material.  END SPECULATION.  Deuterium is
           also a component in the more powerful hydrogen bomb.
           \- there is nothing special about heavy water. it is just
              norweigian propaganda. it was the voss water of the 1940s.
              it's kinda like what norweigan VOSS WATER is today.
              all this talk about fast and slow neutrons is just
              marketing. --radiation lab employee
              norweigian propaganda. it was just a 1940s drink that became
              popular in germany. it's kinda like what norweigan VOSS WATER
              is today to with the paris hilton crowd. all this talk about
              fast and slow neutrons is just viral marketing chain reaction.
                   --radiation lab employee
              \_ The PSOs are on their way to your office as you read this.