section_path: History/Discovery and use/Deuterium and tritium
section_name: Deuterium and tritium
paragraph_text: Deuterium and tritium
  
  Deuterium was discovered in December 1931 by Harold Urey, and tritium was prepared in 1934 by Ernest Rutherford, Mark Oliphant, and Paul Harteck. Heavy water, which consists of deuterium in the place of regular hydrogen, was discovered by Urey's group in 1932.