The rate at which deuterium permeates zirconium and Zircaloy membranes is investigated in this study. It is shown that the deuterium transport rate is dominated by the influence of surface oxides for zirconium or Zircaloy membranes held in deuterium atmospheres over the temperature range 250–500 °C. Deuterium absorption rates by Zircaloy-2 and Zircaloy-4 are indistinguishable from zirconium. A description of the deuterium transport kinetics is presented which yields simple analytical solutions for the rates of deuterium absorption by and permeation through metals with low permeability surface oxides.