Human Produced Radionuclides

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

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Humans have used radioactivity for one hundred years, and through its use, added to the natural inventories. The amounts are small compared to the natural amounts discussed above, and due to the shorter half-lives of many of the nuclides, have seen a marked decrease since the halting of above-ground testing of nuclear weapons. Here are a few human produced or enhanced nuclides:

Human Produced Nuclides
Nuclide
Symbol
Half-life         
Source
Tritium
3H
12.3 a
Produced from weapons testing and fission reactors; reprocessing facilities, nuclear weapons manufacturing
Iodine 131
131I
8.04 days
Fission product produced from weapons testing and fission reactors, used in medical treatment of thyroid problems
Iodine 129
129I
1.57 [math]\cdot[/math] 107 a
Fission product produced from weapons testing and fission reactors
Cesium 137
137Cs
30.17 a
Fission product produced from weapons testing and fission reactors
Strontium 90
90Sr
28.78 a
Fission product produced from weapons testing and fission reactors
Technetium 99
99Tc
2.11 [math]\cdot[/math] 105 a
Decay product of 99Mo, used in medical diagnosis
Plutonium 239
239Pu
2.41 [math]\cdot[/math] 104 a
Produced by neutron bombardment of 238U
( 238U + n [math]\rightarrow[/math]239U[math]\rightarrow[/math] 239Np +ß- [math]\rightarrow[/math]239Pu+ß-)