Cosmogenic Radionuclides

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Written and developed by Prof. Tor Bjørnstad (IFE/UiO) 

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Cosmic radiation permeates all of space, the source being primarily outside of our solar system. The radiation is in many forms, from high-speed heavy particles to high-energy photons and muons. The upper atmosphere interacts with many of the cosmic radiations, and produces radioactive nuclides in nuclear reactions. They can have long half-lives, but the majority have shorter half-lives than the primordial nuclides. Here is a table with some common cosmogenic nuclides:

Cosmogenic Nuclides
Nuclide
Symbol
Source
Natural Activity
Carbon 14  
14C
Cosmic-ray interactions, 14N(n,p)14C; 6 pCi/g (0.22 Bq/g) in living organic material
Tritium                      
3H
Cosmic-ray interactions with N and O; spallation from cosmic-rays, for instance 6Li(n,alpha)3H
0.032 pCi/kg (1.2 x 10-3 Bq/kg)
Beryllium 7
7Be
Cosmic-ray interactions with N and O;
0.27 pCi/kg (0.01 Bq/kg)


Some other cosmogenic radionuclides are 10Be, 26Al, 36Cl, 80Kr, 32Si, 39Ar, 22Na, 35S, 37Ar, 33P, 32P, 28Mg, 24Na, 38S, 31Si, 18F, 39Cl, 38Cl, 34mCl.