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How is a radionuclide formed?
Radionuclides (or sometimes, radioisotopes) are unstable atomic nuclei, and they spontaneously "fall apart" by various means because of their unstable nature. These unstable atoms can be found as isotopes of any element we care to name. All the elements have unstable "versions" of themselves, that is, they have one or more unstable isotopes, which are radionuclides. But where do they come from? Certainly we can make them in the nuclear physics lab, and we apply the nuclear reactor, the cyclotron, or other means to create whatever it is we wish to use for a specific purpose or to investigate and do research on. Nuclear medicine and radiation biophysics use a number of different radionuclides in radiation therapy, biological tracing and other applications. And physicists have different needs for radionuclides to investigate their different properties. Industry has needs for radionuclides, too. Just one example is the creation of 60cobalt for use as an X-ray source for X-ray analysis of materials, or for sterilization (by radiation) of goods or products. To supply the needs of these groups, the nuclear industry creates a smorgasbord of radionuclides by various means. Background radiation is higher today owing to nuclear bomb tests, reactor accidents and other releases of radioactive materials that were created by man. Nature, too, creates radionuclides. Unstable atomic nuclei are formed by stars. Stars operate as big fusion reactors with the huge force of their fusion trying to "blast" everything outward and their giant gravity trying to pull everything in all operating in an equilibrium. Stars are fusing smaller nuclei into larger ones all the time. But stars can't make nuclei heavier than iron during the course of "regular" stellar nucleosynthesis. The trans-iron elements are created in a supernova, when a star of sufficient magnitude has exhausted its nuclear fuel and then collapses to set off the spectular blast that we wonder at. All the naturally occurring trans-iron elements through uranium are created by this mighty crushing event, and they're distributed out into the galaxy by the following blast. Among the elements created are a variety of isotopes that are unstable. In fact, bismuth and all the elements heavier than it have no stable isotopes. The radioisotopes decay according to their nature (there are several mechanisms), and often we see a radioactive product (called a daughter) created by the decay process. We have seen radioactive isotopes formed by stars, and now we look at the fact that they often beget radioactive daughters when they break down. That's another way radionuclides are created. Radioactive decay continues until a stable isotope is created. The times that the decay event takes to occur vary as the isotope, and are called half-lives. No single unstable nucleus can be said to take a given amount of time to decay; there is no way to predict when a specific atom of a radionuclide will decay. So we talk about an "average" time it takes for the decay of a radionuclide to occur, and it's a function derived statistically. We look at a lot of atoms and figure out how long it takes for half of them to decay, and run with that time for a half-life. To repeat, the radioactive decay continues until a stable isotope appears as a daughter. Radioactive decay, in addition to creating a daughter (which may or may not be radioactive) produces ionizing radiation. If it hasn't been obvious, we live in a radioactive universe where there is radiation all over the place. And that's another source of radionuclides. When ionizing radiation like cosmic rays slams into the upper atmosphere of the earth, some nitrogen atoms there end up getting transformed into 14carbon atoms. You may recognize this isotope as the one that is used in radio-carbon dating. Other radiation, both aloft and on earth, can create other unstable isotopes of an element, and now we've discovered a third way that radionuclides can be naturally created. Wikipedia has a post on radionuclides, and a link to that post can be found below.
Does reverse osmosis remove tritium?
Reverse osmosis can remove tritium to some extent, but not completely. Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that has a very small molecule size, making it difficult to completely remove using traditional reverse osmosis systems. Specialized filtration processes may be needed to effectively remove tritium from water.
How much neon gas is in the air?
Neon gas makes up a very small fraction of Earth's atmosphere, about 0.0018 parts per million (ppm). This means there are about 0.002 parts of neon per million parts of air. Neon is considered a trace gas in the atmosphere and is primarily produced through the decay of atmospheric radionuclides.
What are radioactive elements called?
There is not one, but many radioactive elements. Radioactive isotopes, to be more precise - because sometimes, one isotope may be stable, while another isotope of the same element is radioactive. All, or most, elements have radioactive isotopes.
Are there nuclear power plants in Nebraska?
There are no licenced nuclear power plants in Utah. There is one research reactor at the University of Utah. Such a reactor is not licenced the way commercial reactors are, in part because they are supposedly incapable of melting down. They are used for a variety of purposes, including making radionuclides used in medicine.
What is a Cosmogenic isotope?
Cosmogenic isotopes are isotopes that are produced in rocks or minerals by the interaction of cosmic radiation with the Earth's surface. They are useful for dating geological events, such as erosion and exposure ages of rocks, and for studying processes such as rock weathering and sediment transport. Examples include beryllium-10 and aluminum-26.
Who treats diseases with radionuclides?
radiologist
What effect do radionuclides have on living things?
Radionuclides can be very hazardous to living things. It can damage the tissues and cause irreversible changes to the cells.
What substances used in radiology that emit radiation?
radionuclides
What does it mean natural radioactive?
Nuclear stability is the function of ratio of neutron to proton.If the number of neutrons is higher than is required for stability of the nucleus, the nucleus becomes unstable. In order to gain stability, it would try to convert this extra mass of neutrons into sub-particles which are thrown out of the atom. This is done to achieve stability.When this happens naturally it is called as natural radioactive decay.Over 60 radionuclides are found naturally and classified as primordial and cosmogenic and are found in soil, air and water around us.
What are the two radionuclides which concentrate on seafood?
Although Mercury can be found in fish and shellfish the two radionuclides which concentrate in seafood are Lead-210 and Polonium-210. (Source: FEMA Radiological Emergency Management Course IS-3)
Ion of sodium isotope of uranium proton of hydrogen or proton of oxygen is most likely to be radioactive?
Hydrogen has only one natural radioactive isotope(3H), of cosmogenic origin, but only in ultratraces on the earth. Sodium has two radioactive natural isotopes (22Na and 24Na), of cosmogenic origin, but only in ultratraces on the earth. Oxygen has not natural radioactive isotopes. All the isotopes of uranium are radioactive.
What happens to the water from a decommissioned nuclear power plant?
During the cooling process, the water becomes contaminated with radionuclides – unstable atoms with excess energy – and must be filtered to remove as many radionuclides as possible. The filtered water is then stored in huge steel tanks or released into nearby bodies of water.
What type of imaging uses low level radionuclides to locate and stage tumors?
Radionuclide Scanning (nuclear Medicine Scanning)
What diagnostic procedure uses positive radionuclides to reconstruct brain sections?
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a diagnostic procedure that uses positive radionuclides to reconstruct brain sections. By tracking the positron-emitting tracer molecules, PET can create detailed images of brain metabolism and function.
What is the difference between radioisotopes and radionuclide?
Radioisotope and radionuclide are often used interchangeably, but there is a subtle difference. A radioisotope is a type of isotope that emits radiation, while a radionuclide is an atomic nucleus that is unstable and emits radiation. In essence, all radioisotopes are radionuclides, but not all radionuclides are necessarily radioisotopes.
What is nuclear chemotheraphy?
Some radionuclides used in nuclear medicine can emit radiation that kills cancer cells. There are also pharmaceuticals that behave a certain way in the body (like accumulating in the thyroid). By attaching the radionuclides to the pharmaceuticals, we can "spot" treat things like thyroid cancer without giving a big radiation dose to the rest of the body.
