To investigate the isotope effects on the photodesorption processes of X 2 O (X = H,D) ice, molecular dynamics calculations have been performed on the ultraviolet photodissociation of an H 2 O or a D 2 O molecule in an H 2 O or a D 2 O amorphous ice surface, and on HOD photodissociation in an H 2 O amorphous ice surface, where the photodissociated molecules were located in the top four or five monolayers at ice temperatures of 10, 20, 30, 60, and 90 K. Three photodesorption processes can occur upon X 2 O photodissociation: X atom photodesorption, OX radical photodesorption, and X 2 O (or HOD) molecule photodesorption. X 2 O (or HOD) photodesorption can occur after recombination of X and OX, or after an energetic X atom photofragment kicks a surrounding X 2 O molecule from the ice surface. Isotope effects are observed for the X atom and the OX radical photodesorption as well as for the kick-out photodesorption. However, no isotope effects were noticeable for the photodesorption of recombined X 2 O molecules. The average D atom photodesorption probabilities are about a factor 0.9 smaller than those for the H atom, regardless of the isotope of the surrounding ice system. Also, the kick-out mechanism is more likely to occur if a D photofragment is created upon dissociation than if an H atom is created. These observations can be explained by more efficient energy transfer from the D atom to water molecules than from the H atom. Reasoning based on the X 2 O phonon frequencies associated with the librational modes and energy transfer efficiencies explain why the OX radical photodesorption probabilities are noticeably larger if the OX radical desorbs from a D 2 O ice system than from an H 2 O ice system. Also, the OX radical photodesorption is more probable upon dissociation of DOX (X = H,D) than upon dissociation of HOX (X = H,D), because the initial kinetic energy of the OX radical is larger if the dissociation products are D + OX than H + OX. The branching ratio of OD OH desorption following photodissociation of an HOD molecule in ice (about 1.0) is much lower than the OD OH branching ratio in gas-phase HOD photodissociation. This may lead to differences in isotope fractionation in OH(g) formation in dense and diffuse clouds in the interstellar medium.