▪ Abstract The length scales for QCD and for nuclear physics are about the same, both about 1 fermi, and this directly motivates a search for a QCD explanation of nuclear phenomena, beginning with the deuteron. We first review the theoretical tools and results relevant to nuclear QCD, and then discuss data for several reactions. In particular, the remarkable data on deuteron photodisintegration agree with the naive perturbative QCD predictions for their scaling behavior and disagree with predictions from traditional approaches. This may be the first distinctive signature wherein considering the quark substructure in a nucleus is crucial in explaining some phenomenon.