Isotopes have many applications in today's world. They are used in medical diagnostics and imaging, cancer therapy, smoke detectors, oil well logging, and research of all sorts.
Isotopes are used in many industries to test the structural integrity of dams, aircraft, bridges, pipelines, etc. Such use of isotopes is critical to ensuring public and worker safety.
Click on the isotope of interest in the table below in order to discover more about some of its uses.
| REACTOR |
| Actinium-225 |
Extracted from thorium-229, which is extracted from stockpiled uranium-233. It decays to bismuth-213, an alpha emitter that shows promise in the treatment of certain types of cancer.
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| Arsenic-73 |
Arsenic-73 is used as a biological and environmental tracer.
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| Californium-252 |
Used to treat cervical cancer. It is also used as a neutron source to start up reactors. Also used to gauge the moisture content of soil at road and building construction sites.
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| Cobalt-60 |
A gamma emitter used in irradiators for food and medical equipment sterilization. Also used industrially as a level gauge to monitor coal height in hoppers.
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| Iridium-192 |
Used in gamma radiography to image the structural integrity of aircraft, pipe welds, ships, bridges, and other structures.
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| Nickel-63 |
Used for detection of explosives in homeland defense initiatives and as a power source for remote instrumentation.
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| Tungsten-188 |
This is the parent isotope of rhenium-188 used to prevent the re-closure (restenosis) of coronary arteries following heart surgery. Also used as a monoclonal antibody label and to relieve bone cancer pain. Often sold as a generator.
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| ACCELERATOR |
| Cadmium-109 |
Used to induce X-ray emission in coal and other materials such as metal alloys for quantitative and qualitative analysis. Characteristic X-rays from sulfur, for example, will provide information on sulfur content of coal and lead to cleaner burning coals.
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| Copper-67 |
Used to label monoclonal antibodies and destroy targeted tumors.
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| Germanium-68 |
Used as a positron source to calibrate Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanners that are widely used in medical research and cancer imaging.
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| Silicon-32 |
Used as a radioactive tracer to measure silicon uptake by oceanic photoplankton and thereby monitor possible trends in global warming.
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| Sodium-22 |
Used medically in neurological research and commercially as a radiation source.
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| Strontium-82 |
Strontium-82, as the parent of rubidium-82, is often sold as a generator. Rubidium is a chemical analog of potassium. This makes rubidium-82 ideal for cardiac imaging.
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| STABLE |
| Calcium-42 |
Along with calcium-44 used in human calcium retention studies. Other stable isotopes of calcium are also used to study bone growth and nutrition.
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| Helium-3 |
Used in helium-3 lasers, neutron detectors because this isotope has a high affinity for neutrons, and cryogenic systems.
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| Rubidium-87 |
Used as an "atomic clock" in telecommunication devices to coordinate incoming and outgoing signals. Here regarded as "stable" because naturally occuring and has long half-life.
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| Lithium-6 |
Neutron capture therapy research. This isotope has a high affinity for capturing neutrons. By providing patients with drugs made from lithium-6 that target tumors, patients can then be irradiated with neutrons that activate the lithium. The activated lithium then decays and emits radiation that kills the tumor cells.
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| Thallium-203 |
A target for accelerator production of thalium-201, which is used in cardiac imaging.
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| Tungsten-186 |
Used as a target in a reactor to produce tungsten-188 by the capture of two neutrons. Tungsten-188 beta-decays to rhenium-188 widely used to treat restenosis, bone pain, and as a general cancer therapeutic.
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