Deuterium

Deuterium (or heavy hydrogen) is an isotope of hydrogen. Deuterium with an admixture of tritium was used as fuel in matter-antimatter reactions aboard starships, like the . It was stored in the deuterium tanks (, okudagrams) as a cryogenic liquid ( okudagram). During the 22nd century at least, It was considered a highly valuable commodity, and the engines needed lots of it. ()
According to Tessic, it took considerable labor to refine even a liter of deuterium. Furthermore, the process was dangerous, as deuterium could burn almost as hot as plasma when ignited. ()
Damage to a ship might result in the leakage of deuterium gas, or ionized deuterium. (; ) Finding deuterium residue on wreckage was an indication that it might be some kind of warp coil. ()
Aboard the , in the Engineering Systems Database, there were folders titled "Deuterium/Tritium Loading Procedures" and "Deuterium/Tritium Tankage Transfer and Safety". These folders contained technical manuals relevant to the topics. ( okudagram)
The Bussard collectors on some starships were used to collect hydrogen and other interstellar gasses, including deuterium. (; ) However, the occasionally faced shortages and a need to find deuterium from other sources. ()
In 2369, Chief Miles O'Brien ordered that the deuterium flow to carbon reaction chamber two should be increased by five percent; however, the station's computer refused to do this and told O'Brien to read the Cardassian operational guidelines. ()
Deuterium was one element in "Silver Blood", a biomimetic lifeform native to a Y-class planet in the Delta Quadrant. Other components of the "Silver Blood" were hydrogen sulfate, dichromates, and proteins. ()
Deuterium was scarce within , and a number of vessels within it raided others in order to obtain deuterium. Garon had a saying that "…good intentions are like deuterium reserves; they tend to get lost in The Void." Despite this, he joined The Alliance in helping protect ships against such attacks. ()
Per guidelines, all ships in the Antarian Trans-stellar Rally had to use enriched deuterium fuel, something the was not equipped to do. ()
==Facilities==
Federation starbases had reservoirs of deuterium, which were used for refilling the deuterium tanks of starships. ()
During the 22nd century, T'Pol had visited several colonies that traded deuterium. In 2152, she visited one such deuterium facility aboard so the ship could replenish reserves lost in an incident in which the ship had taken damage. More rustic then typical, it consisted of a small itinerant colony, the members of which moved to deuterium fields and pumped up substance and refined it. ()
During its search for the Xindi, Enterprise visited a deuterium station on Norellus. ()
Degra claimed that Azati Prime held a Xindi-Insectoid deuterium facility. ()
In 2371, Miles O'Brien and Jake Sisko investigated the possibility of turning the ore processing section of Deep Space 9, formerly used for processing uridium using Bajoran slave labor, into a deuterium refinery. They accidentally triggered a counter-insurgency program created by Dukat while doing so. ()
==See also==
* Antideuterium
== External link ==
* 
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Category:Elements