H3 in D2O

[Lester.Slaback@nist.gov]

All D2O has tritium in it.
That gotten from normal commercial sources is typically
at a level of .1-.5 uCi/L.
Presumably, if you were willing to pay for more passes
thru the separation process, you could get it at lower
levels.

These suppliers basically ignore the minor (for most people)
H3 content.  Of course this caused a few problems for the
early cold fusion experimenters.

H3 from Canadian CANDU separation sources and similar DoE
sources intended for use at heavy water reactors is typically a few tenths
of a microcurie per ml (simply because you quickly get to higher levels in
the reactor).  So 'unused' D2O from those sources will be higher than
commercial sources.  NIST changes out  its D2O before it reaches 2-3 Ci/L. 
I believe the CANDU facilities operate at much higher levels (and perform
a fractional replacement primarily to maintain D2O purity rather than to
reduce T2O
content).

A few folks are hoarding precious pre-WW2 D2O for very low
level H3 experiments (no weapons H3, multiple halflives).


Probably more than you wanted to know.
-- 
the above are the personal musing of the author,
and do not represent any past, current, or future
position of NIST, the U.S. Government, or anyone else
who might think that they are in a position of authority.
NBSR Health Physics
NIST
Gaithersburg, MD 20899
301 975-5810
-----------------------------------------------------------
Lester.Slaback@nist.gov
-----------------------------------------------------------