Pressurized heavy-water reactor

A nuclear fission reactor that uses pressurized heavy water as coolant and heavy water as moderator, enabling efficient use of natural uranium fuel.

Heavy water: Water in which most hydrogen atoms are replaced by deuterium, a stable hydrogen isotope. Its low neutron absorption lets the reactor sustain fission with natural uranium.
Neutron moderator: A material that slows fast neutrons, increasing the likelihood that they will cause fission in certain fuels. Heavy water slows neutrons without absorbing as many as ordinary water does.
CANDU: A family of Canadian-designed pressurized heavy-water reactors developed for commercial power generation. Its reactors are the principal commercial examples of this reactor type.
Pressurized water reactor: A light-water reactor that keeps water under pressure so it can transfer heat without boiling in the core. It uses ordinary water as both coolant and moderator and typically requires enriched uranium.
Nuclear reactor core: The region of a nuclear reactor containing fuel and where a controlled fission chain reaction occurs. Fuel channels and heavy-water moderator occupy the core.
Natural uranium: Uranium as found in nature, consisting mainly of uranium-238 with about 0.7 percent uranium-235. Its low uranium-235 content makes efficient neutron economy especially valuable.
Nuclear power plant: An industrial facility that uses nuclear reactions to generate electricity. Pressurized heavy-water reactors convert fission heat into grid electricity.
Boiling water reactor: A light-water reactor that boils coolant in the core and sends the resulting steam to a turbine. Its coolant boils in the core, unlike the pressurized primary circuit used here.
Nuclear fuel: Material containing fissile or fertile nuclides used to produce energy through nuclear reactions. Natural uranium is commonly used, while fuel bundles can be replaced during operation.
Fuel bundle: An assembly of fuel elements arranged for insertion into a nuclear reactor core. CANDU fuel bundles fit into horizontal pressure tubes and can be replaced during operation.

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