Editing Isotope separation (section)

==Commercial materials==
To date, large-scale commercial isotope separation of only three elements has occurred. In each case, the rarer of the two most common isotopes of an element has been concentrated for use in nuclear technology:
* [[Uranium]] isotopes have been separated to prepare [[enriched uranium]] for use as [[nuclear reactor]] fuel and in [[nuclear weapons]].
* [[Hydrogen]] isotopes have been separated to prepare [[heavy water]] for use as a moderator in nuclear reactors.
** [[Tritium]] is both a nuisance in the coolant / moderator of water moderated reactors and a valuable product; it is thus sometimes separated from the coolant.
* [[Lithium-6]] has been concentrated for use in [[Thermonuclear weapon|thermonuclear weapons]]. Tritium is commonly produced from lithium-6 which is often enriched for this purpose.

Some isotopically purified elements are used in smaller quantities for specialist applications, especially in the semiconductor industry, where purified [[silicon]] is used to improve crystal structure and [[thermal conductivity]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Thomas |first=Andrew |title=AMD tests 'super silicon' to beat heat problems |work=The Register: Channel |publisher=The Register |date=November 30, 2000 |url=https://www.theregister.com/2000/11/30/amd_tests_super_silicon/ |access-date=January 17, 2014}}</ref> and carbon with greater isotopic purity to make diamonds with greater thermal conductivity.

Isotope separation is an important process for both peaceful and military nuclear technology, and therefore the capability that a nation has for isotope separation is of extreme interest to the intelligence community.