Name: Muhammad Zakwan Bin Md Daud Class: 5 Al-Battani I.C.

No :940216-10-6585

Content

No
1 2 3

Title
The folios title Content The introduction: 1. What is a radioactivity? 2. What is a radioisotopes? Radioisotopes in medicine: 1. Introduction 2. Nuclear Medicine 3. Diagnostic techniques in nuclear medicine 4. Radionuclide therapy (RNT) 5. Biochemical Analysis 6. Diagnostic Radiopharmaceuticals 7. Therapeutic Radiopharmaceuticals 8. Radioisotope Poisons 9. Supplies of radioisotopes 10. Nuclear Medicine Wastes 11. Isotopes used in Medicine Radioisotopes in Industry: 1. Intrdoduction 2. Neutron Techniques for Analysis 3. Gamma & X-ray Techniques in Analysis 4. Gamma Radiography 5. Gauging 6. Gamma Sterilisation 7. Scientific Uses 8. Tracing/Mixing Uses 9. Wastes 10. Industrial Radioisotopes Radioisotopes in agriculture: 1. Agricultural Tracers 2. Insect Control 3. Food Treatment and Preservation 4. Quarantine and Exportation Radioisotopes in archaology: 1. Radioactive Dating 2. Geology and Element Identification Negative effects of radioactive substances Referrence
2

Pages
1 2 3 3 3 4-16 4 4 5 6 7 7 9 10 11 13 13 17-24 17 17 18 18 19 20 20 20 21 23 25-28 25 25 26 28 29-31 29 30 32 33

8 9

Introduction
What is a radioactivity? Atoms with unstable nuclei are constantly changing as a result of the imbalance of energy within the nucleus. When the nucleus loses a neutron, it gives off energy and is said to be radioactive. Radioactivity is the release of energy and matter that results from changes in the nucleus of an atom. What is a radioisotope? Isotopes are atoms of the same element that have a different number of neutrons. In other words, the atoms have the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons in the nucleus. Because the like charges of the protons repel each other,there are always forces trying to push the atom nucleus apart. The nucleus is held together by something called the binding energy. In most cases, elements like to have an equal number of protons and neutrons because this makes them the most stable. Stable atoms have a binding energy that is strong enough to hold the protons and neutrons together. Even if an atom has an additional neutron or two it may remain stable. However, an additional neutron or two may upset the binding energy and cause the atom to become unstable. In an unstable atom, the nucleus changes by giving off a neutron to get back to a balanced state. As the unstable nucleus changes, it gives off radiation and is said to be radioactive. Radioactive isotopes are often called radioisotopes. All elements with atomic numbers greater than 83 are radioisotopes meaning that these elements have unstable nuclei and are radioactive. Elements with atomic numbers of 83 and less, have isotopes (stable nucleus) and most have at least one radioisotope (unstable nucleus). As a radioisotope tries to stabilize, it may transform into a new element in a process called transmutation. We will talk about transmutation in more detail a little later.

Radioisotopes in Medicine
Introduction

Nuclear medicine uses radiation to provide diagnostic information about the functioning of a person's specific organs, or to treat them. Diagnostic procedures are now routine. Radiotherapy can be used to treat some medical conditions, especially cancer, using radiation to weaken or destroy particular targeted cells. Tens of millions of nuclear medicine procedures are performed each year, and demand for radioisotopes is increasing rapidly. Nuclear Medicine This is a branch of medicine that uses radiation to provide information about the functioning of a person's specific organs or to treat disease. In most cases, the information is used by physicians to make a quick, accurate diagnosis of the patient's illness. The thyroid, bones, heart, liver and many other organs can be easily imaged, and disorders in their function revealed. In some cases radiation can be used to treat diseased organs, or tumours. Five Nobel Laureates have been intimately involved with the use of radioactive tracers in medicine. Over 10,000 hospitals worldwide use radioisotopes in medicine, and about 90% of the procedures are for diagnosis. The most common radioisotope used in diagnosis is technetium-99, with some 30 million procedures per year, accounting for 80% of all nuclear medicine procedures worldwide. In developed countries (26% of world population) the frequency of diagnostic nuclear medicine is 1.9% per year, and the frequency of therapy with radioisotopes is about one tenth of this. In the USA there are some 18 million nuclear medicine procedures per year among 305 million people, and in Europe about 10 million among 500 million people. In Australia there are about 560,000 per year among 21 million people, 470,000 of these using reactor isotopes. The use of radiopharmaceuticals in diagnosis is growing at over 10% per year. Nuclear medicine was developed in the 1950s by physicians with an endocrine emphasis, initially using iodine-131 to diagnose and then treat thyroid disease. In recent years specialists have also come from radiology, as dual CT/PET procedures have become established. Computed X-ray tomography (CT) scans and nuclear medicine contribute 36% of the total radiation exposure and 75% of the medical exposure to the US population,
4

according to a US National Council on Radiation Protection & Measurements report in 2009. The report showed that Americans average total yearly radiation exposure had increased from 3.6 millisievert to 6.2 mSv per year since the early 1980s, due to medical-related procedures. (Industrial radiation exposure, including that from nuclear power plants, is less than 0.1% of overall public radiation exposure.) Diagnostic techniques in nuclear medicine Diagnostic techniques in nuclear medicine use radioactive tracers which emit gamma rays from within the body. These tracers are generally short-lived isotopes linked to chemical compounds which permit specific physiological processes to be scrutinised. They can be given by injection, inhalation or orally. The first type are where single photons are detected by a gamma camera which can view organs from many different angles. The camera builds up an image from the points from which radiation is emitted; this image is enhanced by a computer and viewed by a physician on a monitor for indications of abnormal conditions. A more recent development is Positron Emission Tomography (PET) which is a more precise and sophisticated technique using isotopes produced in a cyclotron. A positron-emitting radionuclide is introduced, usually by injection, and accumulates in the target tissue. As it decays it emits a positron, which promptly combines with a nearby electron resulting in the simultaneous emission of two identifiable gamma rays in opposite directions. These are detected by a PET camera and give very precise indication of their origin. PET's most important clinical role is in oncology, with fluorine18 as the tracer, since it has proven to be the most accurate non-invasive method of detecting and evaluating most cancers. It is also well used in cardiac and brain imaging. New procedures combine PET with computed X-ray tomography (CT) scans to give co-registration of the two images(PETCT), enabling 30% better diagnosis than with traditional gamma camera alone. It is a very powerful and significant tool which provides unique information on a wide variety of diseases from dementia to cardiovascular disease and cancer (oncology). Positioning of the radiation source within the body makes the fundamental difference between nuclear medicine imaging and other imaging techniques such as xrays. Gamma imaging by either method described provides a view of the position and concentration of the radioisotope within the body. Organ malfunction can be indicated if the isotope is either partially taken up in the organ (cold spot), or taken up in excess (hot spot). If a series of images is taken over a period of time, an unusual pattern or rate of isotope movement could indicate malfunction in the organ. A distinct advantage of nuclear imaging over x-ray techniques is that both bone and soft tissue can be imaged very successfully. This has led to its common use in developed countries where the probability of anyone having such a test is about one in two and rising.

The mean effective dose is 4.6 mSv per diagnostic procedure.

Radionuclide therapy (RNT) Rapidly dividing cells are particularly sensitive to damage by radiation. For this reason, some cancerous growths can be controlled or eliminated by irradiating the area containing the growth. External irradiation (sometimes called teletherapy) can be carried out using a gamma beam from a radioactive cobalt-60 source, though in developed countries the much more versatile linear accelerators are now being utilised as a high-energy x-ray source (gamma and x-rays are much the same). An external radiation procedure is known as the gamma knife radiosurgery, and involves focusing gamma radiation from 201 sources of cobalt-60 sources on a precise area of the brain with a cancerous tumour. Worldwide, over 30,000 patients are treated annually, generally as outpatients. Internal radionuclide therapy is by administering or planting a small radiation source, usually a gamma or beta emitter, in the target area. Short-range radiotherapy is known as brachytherapy, and this is becoming the main means of treatment. Iodine-131 is commonly used to treat thyroid cancer, probably the most successful kind of cancer treatment. It is also used to treat non-malignant thyroid disorders. Iridium-192 implants are used especially in the head and breast. They are produced in wire form and are introduced through a catheter to the target area. After administering the correct dose, the implant wire is removed to shielded storage. This brachytherapy (short-range) procedure gives less overall radiation to the body, is more localised to the target tumour and is cost effective. Treating leukaemia may involve a bone marrow transplant, in which case the defective bone marrow will first be killed off with a massive (and otherwise lethal) dose of radiation before being replaced with healthy bone marrow from a donor. Many therapeutic procedures are palliative, usually to relieve pain. For instance, strontium-89 and (increasingly) samarium 153 are used for the relief of cancer-induced bone pain. Rhenium-186 is a newer product for this. A new field is Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT) or alpha radioimmunotherapy, especially for the control of dispersed cancers. The short range of very energetic alpha emissions in tissue means that a large fraction of that radiative energy goes into the targeted cancer cells, once a carrier such as a monoclonal antibody has taken the alpha-emitting radionuclide to exactly the right place. Laboratory studies are encouraging and clinical trials for leukaemia, cystic glioma and melanoma are under way. TAT using lead-212 is said to show promise for treating pancreatic, ovarian and melanoma cancers.

An experimental development of this is Boron Neutron Capture Therapy using boron-10 which concentrates in malignant brain tumours. The patient is then irradiated with thermal neutrons which are strongly absorbed by the boron, producing high-energy alpha particles which kill the cancer. This requires the patient to be brought to a nuclear reactor, rather than the radioisotopes being taken to the patient. Radionuclide therapy has progressively become successful in treating persistent disease and doing so with low toxic side-effects. With any therapeutic procedure the aim is to confine the radiation to well-defined target volumes of the patient. The doses per therapeutic procedure are typically 20-60 Gy. Biochemical Analysis It is very easy to detect the presence or absence of some radioactive materials even when they exist in very low concentrations. Radioisotopes can therefore be used to label molecules of biological samples in vitro (out of the body). Pathologists have devised hundreds of tests to determine the constituents of blood, serum, urine, hormones, antigens and many drugs by means of associated radioisotopes. These procedures are known as radioimmuno-assays and, although the biochemistry is complex, kits manufactured for laboratory use are very easy to use and give accurate results. In Europe some 15 million of these in vitro analyses are undertaken each year. Diagnostic Radiopharmaceuticals Every organ in our bodies acts differently from a chemical point of view. Doctors and chemists have identified a number of chemicals which are absorbed by specific organs. The thyroid, for example, takes up iodine, the brain consumes quantities of glucose, and so on. With this knowledge, radiopharmacists are able to attach various radioisotopes to biologically active substances. Once a radioactive form of one of these substances enters the body, it is incorporated into the normal biological processes and excreted in the usual ways. Diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals can be used to examine blood flow to the brain, functioning of the liver, lungs, heart or kidneys, to assess bone growth, and to confirm other diagnostic procedures. Another important use is to predict the effects of surgery and assess changes since treatment. The amount of the radiopharmaceutical given to a patient is just sufficient to obtain the required information before its decay. The radiation dose received is medically insignificant. The patient experiences no discomfort during the test and after a short time there is no trace that the test was ever done. The non-invasive nature of this technology, together with the ability to observe an organ functioning from outside the body, makes this technique a powerful diagnostic tool.

A radioisotope used for diagnosis must emit gamma rays of sufficient energy to escape from the body and it must have a half-life short enough for it to decay away soon after imaging is completed. The radioisotope most widely used in medicine is technetium-99m, employed in some 80% of all nuclear medicine procedures - almost 30 million per year (2008), of which 6-7 million are in Europe, 12-15 million in North America, 6-8 million in Asia/Pacific (particularly Japan), and 0.5 million in other regions. It is an isotope of the artificially-produced element technetium and it has almost ideal characteristics for a nuclear medicine scan. These are:

It has a half-life of six hours which is long enough to examine metabolic processes yet short enough to minimise the radiation dose to the patient. Technetium-99m decays by a process called "isomeric"; which emits gamma rays and low energy electrons. Since there is no high energy beta emission the radiation dose to the patient is low. The low energy gamma rays it emits easily escape the human body and are accurately detected by a gamma camera. Once again the radiation dose to the patient is minimised. The chemistry of technetium is so versatile it can form tracers by being incorporated into a range of biologically-active substances to ensure that it concentrates in the tissue or organ of interest. Its logistics also favour its use. Technetium generators, a lead pot enclosing a glass tube containing the radioisotope, are supplied to hospitals from the nuclear reactor where the isotopes are made. They contain molybdenum-99, with a half-life of 66 hours, which progressively decays to technetium-99. The Tc-99 is washed out of the lead pot by saline solution when it is required. After two weeks or less the generator is returned for recharging. A similar generator system is used to produce rubidium-82 for PET imaging from strontium-82 - which has a half-life of 25 days. Myocardial Perfusion Imaging (MPI) uses thallium-201 chloride or technetium99m and is important for detection and prognosis of coronary artery disease. Canadian 2006 data shows that 56% of Tc-99 use there is in myocardial ischemia perfusion, 17% in bone scans, 7% in liver/hepatobiliary, 4% respiratory, 3% renal, 3% thyroid. For PET imaging, the main radiopharmaceutical is Fluoro-deoxy glucose (FDG) incorporating F-18 - with a half-life of just under two hours, as a tracer. The FDG is readily incorporated into the cell without being broken down, and is a good indicator of cell metabolism.
8

In diagnostic medicine, there is a strong trend to using more cyclotron-produced isotopes such as F-18 as PET and CT/PET become more widely available. However, the procedure needs to be undertaken within two hours reach of a cyclotron, which limits their utility compared with Mo/Tc-99. Therapeutic Radiopharmaceuticals For some medical conditions, it is useful to destroy or weaken malfunctioning cells using radiation. The radioisotope that generates the radiation can be localised in the required organ in the same way it is used for diagnosis - through a radioactive element following its usual biological path, or through the element being attached to a suitable biological compound. In most cases, it is beta radiation which causes the destruction of the damaged cells. This is radionuclide therapy (RNT) or radiotherapy. Short-range radiotherapy is known as brachytherapy, and this is becoming the main means of treatment. Although radiotherapy is less common than diagnostic use of radioactive material in medicine, it is nevertheless widespread, important and growing. An ideal therapeutic radioisotope is a strong beta emitter with just enough gamma to enable imaging, eg lutetium-177. This is prepared from ytterbium-176 which is irradiated to become Yb177 which decays rapidly to Lu-177.Yttrium-90 is used for treatment of cancer, particularly non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and its more widespread use is envisaged, including for arthritis treatment. Lu-177 and Y-90 are becoming the main RNT agents. Iodine-131 and phosphorus-32 are also used for therapy. Iodine-131 is used to treat the thyroid for cancers and other abnormal conditions such as hyperthyroidism (over-active thyroid). In a disease called Polycythemia vera, an excess of red blood cells is produced in the bone marrow. Phosphorus-32 is used to control this excess. A new and still experimental procedure uses boron-10, which concentrates in the tumour. The patient is then irradiated with neutrons which are strongly absorbed by the boron, to produce high-energy alpha particles which kill the cancer. For targeted alpha therapy (TAT), actinium-225 is readily available, from which the daughter bismuth-213 can be obtained (via 3 alpha decays) to label targeting molecules. The bismuth is obtained by elution from an Ac-225/Bi-213 generator similar to the Mo-99/Tc-99 one. Bi-213 has a 46-minute half-life. The actinium-225 (half-life 10 days) is formed from radioactive decay of radium-225, the decay product of long-lived thorium-229, which is obtained from decay of uranium-233, which is formed from Th232 by neutron capture in a nuclear reactor. Another radionuclide recovered from used nuclear fuel is lead-212, with half-life of 10.6 hours, which can be attached to monoclonal antibodies for cancer treatment. Its decay chain includes the short-lived isotopes bismuth-212 by beta decay, polonium-212 by beta decay and thallium-208 by alpha decay of the bismuth, with further alpha and beta decays respectively to Pb-208, all over about an hour.
9

Considerable medical research is being conducted worldwide into the use of radionuclides attached to highly specific biological chemicals such as immunoglobulin molecules (monoclonal antibodies). The eventual tagging of these cells with a therapeutic dose of radiation may lead to the regression - or even cure - of some diseases. Radioisotope Poisons In 2006 Britain witnessed the apparent murder of one of its newer citizens, a former Russian intelligence official, by poisoning with radioactive polonium. His death was slow and excruciating. Polonium has about 26 isotopes, all of which are radioactive. Webelements periodic table says that it is 250 billion times more toxic than hydrocyanic acid. It is readily soluble in weak acid. (It was the first element discovered by Marie Curie, in 1898, and named after her native Poland. Her daughter Irene was contaminated with polonium in a laboratory accident and died of leukemia at the age of 59.) Polonium-210 is the penultimate decay product of U-238, before it alpha decays to become stable lead. It results from the beta decay of Pb-210 (in the U-238 decay series) to Bi-210 which rapidly beta decays to Po-210. This gives rise to its occurrence in nature, where uranium is ubiquitous. However, because of its short (138 day) half life, very little Po-210 would be found in uranium ore or mill tailings (Webelements suggests 0.1 mg/tonne). Po-210 levels in soil would be even less, but it is concentrated in tobacco and traces of it can be found in smokers' urine. Po-210 can also be made by neutron irradiation of Bi-209, and that is most likely source of any significant quantity. Russia has used Po-210 as a heat source in short-life spacecraft and lunar rovers. It also operates reactors using lead-bismuth cooling, which becomes contaminated with Po-210 due to neutron bombardment. Because its half-life is so short, a gram of Po-210 is about 5000 times as radioactive as a gram of radium - which sets the standard of activity. But at 138 days its half life is long enough for it to be manufactured, transported and administered before its loses its potency. It would not put the carrier at much risk, since alpha radiation is only really a hazard inside the body - a layer of skin is protection. About 10 micrograms (2 GBq) was said to have been used, administered in a cup of tea (it would be warm due to the decay). However, simply dosing someone with polonium might not have much effect if it simply went in one end and out the other in a day or two without being absorbed from the gut. It would probably need to be complexed on to an organic carrier which would enter the bloodstream and take it to vital organs where it would stay. (This is what happens with targeted alpha therapy (TAT) using very low levels of alpha-active radioisotopes: the carriers take them to dispersed cancerous tissues where they are needed.)
10

In Mr Litvinenko's case the intense alpha radiation was reportedly in vital organs and sufficient to destroy them over three weeks. It was apparently over one hundred times the dose used in TAT for cancer treatment and the Po-210 is much longer-lived than isotopes used for TAT. It could have been attached to something as simple as a sugar. Supplies of radioisotopes Most medical radioisotopes made in nuclear reactors are sourced from relatively few research reactors, including: - NRU at Chalk River in Canada (supplied via MDS Nordion) - HFR at Petten in Netherlands (supplied via IRE and Covidien) - BR-2 at Mol in Belgium (supplied via IRE and Covidien) - Maria in Poland (supplied via Covidien) - Osiris & Orphee at Saclay in France (supplied via IRE) - FRJ-2/ FRM-2 at Julich in Germany (supplied via IRE) - LWR-15 at Rez in Czech Republic - HFETR at Chengdu in China - Safari in South Africa (supplied from NTP) - Opal in Australia (supplied from ANSTO to domestic market) - ETRR-2 in Egypt (forthcoming: supplied to domestic market) - Dimitrovgrad in Russia (Isotop-NIIAR)

Of fission radioisotopes, 40% of Mo-99 (for Tc-99m) comes from MDS Nordion, 25% from Covidien (formerly Tyco), 17% from IRE and 10% from NTP. For I-131, 75% is from IRE, 25% from NTP. Over 90% of the Mo-99 is made in five reactors: NRU in Canada (40%), HFR in Netherlands (30%), BR-2 in Belgium (9%), Osiris in France (5%), and Safari-1 in South Africa (10%). Canadian 2008 data gives 31% for NRU. World demand for Mo-99 is 23,000 six-day TBq/yr.* It is mostly prepared by fission of U-235 targets in a nuclear research reactor. Most is produced using highenriched uranium targets which are then processed to separate the Mo-99 and also to

11

recover I-131. Opal, Safari, and increasingly other reactors, are moving to low-enriched uranium targets, which adds about 20% to production costs. * 23,000 TBq is on basis of activity at 6 days from production reference point, ie 22% of nearly 100,000 TBq required in production processing (given 66 hour half-life). This is still about two days from the end of irradiation, so some 167,000 TBq/yr must be made in the actual reactors to allow for cooling, processing and decay en route to the users. A number of incidents in 2008 pointed up shortcomings and unreliability in the supply of medical isotopes, particular technetium. As indicated above, most of the world's supply of Mo-99 for this comes from only five reactors, all of them 43 to 52 years old (in mid 2010). The Canadian and Netherlands reactors required major repairs over 2009-10 and were out of action for some time. Osiris is due to shut down in 2015. A major and increasing supply shortfall of Tc-99 is forecast from 2010, and the IAEA is encouraging new producers in Egypt, East Europe and central Asia. During the 200910 supply crisis, South Africa's (NECSA) Safari was able to supply 25% of the supply of Mo-99. Australia's Opal reactor has the capacity to produce half the world supply of it, but a much larger Mo production facility would be required. Also the processing and distribution of isotopes is complex and constrained, which can be critical when the isotopes concerned are short-lived. A need for increased production capacity and more reliable distribution is evident. The Mo-99 market is about $5 billion per year, according to NECSA. The US Congress has called for all Mo-99 to be supplied by reactors running on low-enriched uranium (LEU), instead of high-enriched uranium (HEU). Also it has called for proposals for an LEU-based supply of Mo-99 for the US market. This supply should reach 111 six-day TBq per week by mid-2013, a quarter of world demand. Tenders for this closed in June 2010. In January 2009 Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) announced an agreement with international isotope supplier Covidien to produce Mo-99 sufficient for half of US demand, if a new process involving an innovative reactor and separation technology is successful. They plan to use Aqueous Homogeneous Reactor (AHR) technology with low-enriched uranium in small 100-200 kW units units where the fuel is mixed with the moderator and the U-235 forms both the fuel and the irradiation target. A single production facility could have four such reactors. B&W and Covidien expect a five-year lead time to first production. (LEU is dissolved in acid then brought to criticality in a 200-litre vessel. A s fission proceeds the solution is circulated through an extraction facility to remove the fission products with Mo-99 and then back into the reactor vessel, which is at low temperature and pressure.) At Russia's Kurchatov Institute the 20 kW ARGUS AHR has operated since 1981, and R&D on producing Mo-99 from it is ongoing.
12

Also in the USA, the University of Missouri is reported to be planning a licence application to NRC in 2010 to produce half of US requirements of Mo-99 at its research reactor using low-enriched uranium targets by 2012. In Russia, the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (NIIAR or RIAR, with 3 reactors) and Trans-regional Izotop Association (VA Izotop) have established a joint venture, Isotop-NIIAR to produce Mo-99 at Dimitrovgrad from 2010. Phase 1 of the Mo99 production line with capacity of 1700 TBq/yr was commissioned in December 2010, and Phase 2 will take capacity to 52,000 TBq/yr according to Rosatom, without saying when the activity is measured. (VA Izotop is authorized since 2009 by Rosatom to control all isotope production and radiological devices in Russia). This JV is aiming to capture 26% of the world market for Mo-99 by 2012. In September 2010 JSC Izotop signed a framework agreement with MDS Nordion to explore commercial opportunities outside Russia on the basis of this Isotop-NIIAR JV, initially over ten years. Cobalt-60 has mostly come from Candu power reactors by irradiation of Co-59 in special rods, and production is being expanded. Production sites include: Bruce B, Pickering and Gentilly in Canada; Embalse in Argentina; Qinshan Phase III units 1 and 2 in China; Wolsong 1 and 2 in South Korea (all Candu); and Leningrad 1 in Russia (RBMK). These will be joined by the Clinton and Hope Creek BWRs in USA from 2012. Nuclear Medicine Wastes The use of radioisotopes for medical diagnosis and treatments results in the generation of mainly Low-Level Waste (LLW). This waste includes paper, rags, tools, clothing and filters, which contain small amounts of mostly short-lived radioactivity. These types of waste often undergo decay storage for periods of months to a few years before being disposed of at urban land-fill sites. When radiography sources have decayed to a point where they are no longer emitting enough penetrating radiation for use in treatments, they are considered as radioactive waste. Sources such as Co-60 are treated as short-lived Intermediate-Level wastes (ILW). Other sources such as Radium-226, used in cancer therapy, will however require long-term storage and geological disposal as ILW, as a result of their higher level of long-lived radioactivity. Isotopes used in Medicine Many radioisotopes are made in nuclear reactors, some in cyclotrons. Generally neutron-rich ones and those resulting from nuclear fission need to be made in reactors, neutron-depleted ones are made in cyclotrons. There are about 40 activation product radioisotopes and five fission product ones made in reactors.

13

1. Reactor Radioisotopes (half-life indicated) Below is the table of type reactor radioisotopes and their uses: No. 1 2 3 4 5 Type of radioisotopes Bismuth 213 (46 min) Their uses targeted alpha therapy (TAT), especially cancers, as it has a high energy (8.4 MeV). Chromium 51 (28 d) label red blood cells and quantify gastro Cobalt 60 (5.27 yr) formerly used for external beam radiotherapy, now used more for sterilising Dysprosium 165 (2 h) aggregated hydroxide for synovectomy treatment of arthritis. Iodine 131 (8 d)* Widely used in treating thyroid cancer and in imaging the thyroid; also in diagnosis of abnormal liver function, renal (kidney) blood flow and urinary tract obstruction. A strong gamma emitter, but used for beta therapy. Lead-212 (10.6 h) used in TAT for cancers, with decay products Bi212, Po-212, Tl-208. Rhenium-188 (17 h) beta irradiate coronary arteries from an angioplasty balloon. Samarium-153 (47 h) Sm-153 is very effective in relieving the pain of secondary cancers lodged in the bone, sold as Quadramet. Also very effective for prostate and breast cancer. Beta emitter. Sodium-24 (15 h) for studies of electrolytes within the body. Strontium-89 (50 d)* very effective in reducing the pain of prostate and bone cancer. Beta emitter. Technetium-99m (6 h) image the skeleton and heart muscle in particular, but also for brain, thyroid, lungs (perfusion and ventilation), liver, spleen, kidney (structure and filtration rate), gall bladder, bone marrow, salivary and lacrimal glands, heart blood pool, infection and numerous specialised medical studies. Produced from Mo-99 in a generator. Xenon-133 (5 d)* pulmonary (lung) ventilation studies. Ytterbium-169 (32 d) cerebrospinal fluid studies in the brain. Ytterbium-177 (1.9 h) progenitor of Lu-177. Yttrium-90 (64 h)* cancer brachytherapy and as silicate colloid for the relieving the pain of arthritis in larger synovial joints. Pure beta emitter and of growing significance in therapy. Radioisotopes of caesium, used in brachytherapy. gold and ruthenium Erbium 169 (9.4 d) relieving arthritis pain in synovial joints. Rhenium-186 (3.8 d) pain relief in bone cancer. Beta emitter with weak
14

6 7 8

9 10 11

13 14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24

Potassium-42 (12 h) Phosphorus-32 (14 d) Palladium-103 (17 d) Molybdenum-99 (66 h)* Lutetium-177 (6.7 d)

25 26

Iron 59 (46 d) Iridium 192 (74 d)

27 28

Holmium 166 (26 h) Iodine 125 (60 d)

29

Selenium-75 (120 d)

gamma for imaging. determination of exchangeable potassium in coronary blood flow. the treatment of polycythemia vera (excess red blood cells). Beta emitter. make brachytherapy permanent implant seeds for early stage prostate cancer. as the 'parent' in a generator to produce technetium-99m. Lu-177 is increasingly important as it emits just enough gamma for imaging while the beta radiation does the therapy on small (eg endocrine) tumours. Its half-life is long enough to allow sophisticated preparation for use. It is usually produced by neutron activation of natural or enriched lutetium176 targets. studies of iron metabolism in the spleen. supplied in wire form for use as an internal radiotherapy source for cancer treatment (used then removed). being developed for diagnosis and treatment of liver tumours. cancer brachytherapy (prostate and brain), also diagnostically to evaluate the filtration rate of kidneys and to diagnose deep vein thrombosis in the leg. It is also widely used in radioimmuno. form of seleno-methionine to study the production of digestive enzymes.

* fission product 2. Cyclotron Radioisotopes No. 1 Type of radioisotopes Their uses Carbon-11, Nitrogen-13, these are positron emitters used in PET for Oxygen-15, Fluorine-18 studying brain physiology and pathology, in particular for localising epileptic focus, and in dementia, psychiatry and neuropharmacology studies. They also have a significant role in cardiology. F-18 in FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose) has become very important in detection of cancers and the monitoring of progress in their treatment, using PET. Cobalt-57 (272 d): as a marker to estimate organ size and for in-vitro diagnostic kits. Copper-64 (13 h) study genetic diseases affecting copper metabolism, such as Wilson's and Menke's
15

2 3

4 5

6 7 8

9 10 11

12 13

diseases, and for PET imaging of tumours, and therapy. Copper-67 (2.6 d) beta emitter, used in therapy. Fluorine-18 as FLT tracer. (fluorothymidine), F-miso (fluoromisonidazole), 18Fcholine Gallium-67 (78 h) for tumour imaging and localisation of inflammatory lesions (infections). Gallium-68 (68 min) positron emitter used in PET and PET-CT units. Derived from germanium-68 in a generator. Thallium-201 (73 h) diagnosis of coronary artery disease other heart conditions such as heart muscle death and for location of low-grade lymphomas. Germanium-68 (271 d) as the 'parent' in a generator to produce Ga-68. Indium-111 (2.8 d) specialist diagnostic studies, eg brain studies, infection and colon transit studies. Iodine-123 (13 h) increasingly used for diagnosis of thyroid function, it is a gamma emitter without the beta radiation of I131. Iodine-124 tracer. Strontium-82 (25 d) the 'parent' in a generator to produce Rb-82.

16

Radioisotopes in Industry
Intrdoduction

Modern industry uses radioisotopes in a variety of ways to improve productivity and, in some cases, to gain information that cannot be obtained in any other way. Sealed radioactive sources are used in industrial radiography, gauging applications and mineral analysis. Short-lived measurements. radioactive material is used in flow tracing and mixing

Gamma sterilisation is used for medical supplies, some bulk commodities and, increasingly, for food preservation. Nuclear techniques are increasingly used in industry and environmental management. The continuous analysis and rapid response of nuclear techniques, many involving radioisotopes, mean that reliable flow and analytic data can be constantly available. This results in reduced costs with increased product quality. Neutron Techniques for Analysis Neutrons can interact with atoms in a sample causing the emission of gamma rays which, when analysed for characteristic energies and intensity, will identify the types and quantities of elements present. The two main techniques are Thermal Neutron Capture (TNC) and Neutron Inelastic Scattering (NIS). TNC occurs immediately after a low-energy neutron is absorbed by a nucleus, NIS takes place instantly when a fast neutron collides with a nucleus. Most commercial analysers use californium-252 neutron sources together with sodium iodide detectors and are mainly sensitive to TNC reactions. Other use Am-Be241 sources and bismuth germanate detectors, which register both TNC and NIS. NIS reactions are particularly useful for elements such as C, O, Al & Si which have a low neutron capture cross section. Such equipment is used for a variety on on-line and onbelt analysis in the cement, mineral and coal industries. A particular application of NIS is where a probe containing a neutron source can be lowered into a bore hole where the radiation is scattered by collisions with surrounding soil. Since hydrogen (the major component of water) is by far the best scattering atom, the number of neutrons returning to a detector in the probe is a function of the density of the water in the soil. To measure soil density and water content, a portable device with an americium241-beryllium combination generates gamma rays and neutrons which pass through a sample of soil to a detector. (The neutrons arise from alpha particles interacting with Be9.) A more sophisticated application of this is in borehole logging.
17

Gamma & X-ray Techniques in Analysis Gamma ray transmission or scattering can be used to determine the ash content of coal on line on a conveyor belt. The gamma ray interactions are atomic number dependant, and the ash is higher in atomic number than the coal combustible matter. Also the energy spectrum of gamma rays which have been inelastically scattered from the coal can be measured (Compton Profile Analysis) to indicate the ash content. X-rays from a radioactive element can induce fluorescent x-rays from other nonradioactive materials. The energies of the fluorescent x-rays emitted can identify the elements present in the material, and their intensity can indicate the quantity of each element present. This technique is used to determine element concentrations in process streams of mineral concentrators. Probes containing radioisotopes and a detector are immersed directly into slurry streams. Signals from the probe are processed to give the concentration of the elements being monitored, and can give a measure of the slurry density. Elements detected this way include iron, nickel, copper, zinc, tin and lead. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) is a further technique for on-line analysis but does not use radioisotopes. Gamma Radiography Gamma Radiography works in much the same way as x-rays screen luggage at airports. Instead of the bulky machine needed to produce x-rays, all that is needed to produce effective gamma rays is a small pellet of radioactive material in a sealed titanium capsule. The capsule is placed on one side of the object being screened, and some photographic film is placed on the other side. The gamma rays, like x-rays, pass through the object and create an image on the film. Just as x-rays show a break in a bone, gamma rays show flaws in metal castings or welded joints. The technique allows critical components to be inspected for internal defects without damage. Gamma sources are normally more portable than x-ray equipment so have a clear advantage in certain applications, such as in remote areas. Also while x-ray sources emit a broad band of radiation, gamma sources emit at most a few discrete wavelengths. Gamma sources may also be much higher energy than all but the most expensive x-ray equipment, and hence have an advantage for much radiography. Where a weld has been made in an oil or gas pipeline, special film is taped over the weld around the outside of the pipe. A machine called a "pipe crawler" carries a shielded radioactive source down the inside of the pipe to the position of the weld. There, the radioactive source is remotely

18

exposed and a radiographic image of the weld is produced on the film. This film is later developed and examined for signs of flaws in the weld. X-ray sets can be used when electric power is available and the object to be xrayed can be taken to the x-ray source and radiographed. Radioisotopes have the supreme advantage in that they can be taken to the site when an examination is required - and no power is needed. However, they cannot be simply turned off, and so must be properly shielded both when in use and at other times. Non-destructive testing is an extension of gamma radiography, used on a variety of products and materials. For instance, ytterbium-169 tests steel up to 15 mm thick and light alloys to 45 mm, while iridium-192 is used on steel 12 to 60 mm thick and light alloys to 190 mm. Gauging The radiation that comes from a radioisotope has its intensity reduced by matter between the radioactive source and a detector. Detectors are used to measure this reduction. This principle can be used to gauge the presence or the absence, or even to measure the quantity or density, of material between the source and the detector. The advantage in using this form of gauging or measurement is that there is no contact with the material being gauged. Many process industries utilise fixed gauges to monitor and control the flow of materials in pipes, distillation columns, etc, usually with gamma rays. The height of the coal in a hopper can be determined by placing high energy gamma sources at various heights along one side with focusing collimators directing beams across the load. Detectors placed opposite the sources register the breaking of the beam and hence the level of coal in the hopper. Such level gauges are among the most common industrial uses of radioisotopes. Some machines which manufacture plastic film use radioisotope gauging with beta particles to measure the thickness of the plastic film. The film runs at high speed between a radioactive source and a detector. The detector signal strength is used to control the plastic film thickness. In paper manufacturing, beta gauges are used to monitor the thickness of the paper at speeds of up to 400 m/s. When the intensity of radiation from a radioisotope is being reduced by matter in the beam, some radiation is scattered back towards the radiation source. The amount of 'backscattered' radiation is related to the amount of material in the beam, and this can be used to measure characteristics of the material. This principle is used to measure different types of coating thicknesses.

19

Gamma Sterilisation Gamma irradiation is widely used for sterilising medical products, for other products such as wool, and for food. Cobalt-60 is the main isotope used, since it is an energetic gamma emitter. It is produced in nuclear reactors, sometimes as a by-product of power generation. Large-scale irradiation facilities for gamma sterilisation are used for disposable medical supplies such as syringes, gloves, clothing and instruments, many of which would be damaged by heat sterilisation. Such facilities also process bulk products such as raw wool for export from Australia, archival documents and even wood, to kill parasites. Currently ANSTO in Australia sterilises up to 25 million Queensland fruit fly pupae per week for NSW Agriculture by gamma irradiation. Smaller gamma irradiators are used for treating blood for transfusions and for other medical applications. Food preservation is an increasingly important application, and has been used since the 1960s. In 1997 the irradiation of red meat was approved in USA. Some 41 countries have approved irradiation of more than 220 different foods, to extend shelf life and to reduce the risk of food-borne diseases. Scientific Uses Radioisotopes are used as tracers in many research areas. Most physical, chemical and biological systems treat radioactive and non-radioactive forms of an element in exactly the same way, so a system can be investigated with the assurance that the method used for investigation does not itself affect the system. An extensive range of organic chemicals can be produced with a particular atom or atoms in their structure replaced with an appropriate radioactive equivalent. Using tracing techniques, research is conducted with various radioisotopes which occur broadly in the environment, to examine the impact of human activities. The age of water obtained from underground bores can be estimated from the level of naturally occurring radioisotopes in the water. This information can indicate if groundwater is being used faster than the rate of replenishment. Trace levels of radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons testing in the 1950s and 60s is now being used to measure soil movement and degradation. This is assuming greater importance in environmental studies of the impact of agriculture. Tracing/Mixing Uses Even very small quantities of radioactive material can be detected easily. This property can be used to trace the progress of some radioactive material through a complex path, or through events which greatly dilute the original material. In all these tracing investigations, the half-life of the tracer radioisotope is chosen to be just long
20

enough to obtain the information required. No long-term residual radioactivity remains after the process. Sewage from ocean outfalls can be traced in order to study its dispersion. Small leaks can be detected in complex systems such as power station heat exchangers. Flow rates of liquids and gasses in pipelines can be measured accurately, as can the flow rates of large rivers. Mixing efficiency of industrial blenders can be measured and the internal flow of materials in a blast furnace examined. The extent of termite infestation in a structure can be found by feeding the insects radioactive wood substitute, then measuring the extent of the radioactivity spread by the insects. This measurement can be made without damaging any structure as the radiation is easily detected through building materials. Wastes Industries utilise radioactive sources for a wide range of applications. When the radioactive sources used by industry no longer emit enough penetrating radiation for them to be of use, they are treated as radioactive waste. Sources used in industry are generally short-lived and any waste generated can be disposed of in near-surface facilities. Some industrial activities involve the handling of raw materials such as rocks, soils and minerals that contain naturally occurring radioactive materials. These materials are known by the acronym "NORM". Industrial activity can sometimes concentrate these materials and therefore enhance their natural radioactivity (hence the further acronym: TENORM - technically-enhanced NORM). This may result in:

A risk of radiation exposure to workers or the public Unacceptable radioactive contamination of the environment The need to comply with regulatory waste disposal requirements

The main industries that result in NORM contamination are: 1. Oil and gas operations Oil and gas exploration and production generates large volumes of water containing dissolved minerals. These minerals may be deposited as scale in piping and oil field equipment or left as residues in evaporation lagoons. Occasionally the radiation dose from equipment contaminated with mineral deposits may present a hazard. More significantly contaminated equipment and the scale removed from it may be classified
21

as radioactive waste. Oil and gas operations are the main sources of radioactive releases to waters north of Europe for instance. 2. Coal burning Most coal contains uranium and thorium, as well as other radionuclides. The total radiation levels are generally about the same as in other rocks of the earth's crust. Most emerge from a power station in the light flyash. Some 99% of flyash is typically retained in a modern power station (90% in some older ones) and this is buried in an ash dam. Around 280 million tonnes of coal ash is produced globally each year. 3. Phosphate Fertilisers The processing of phosphate rock to produce phosphate fertilizers (one end product of the phosphate industry) results in enhanced levels of uranium, thorium and potassium. 4. Process and Waste Water Treatment Radionuclides are leached into water when it comes into contact with uranium and thorium bearing rocks and sediments. Water treatment often uses filters to remove impurities. Hence, radioactive wastes from filter sludges, ion-exchange resins, granulated activated carbon and water from filter backwash are part of NORM. 5. Scrap metal industry Scrap metal from various process industries can also contain scales with enhanced levels of natural radionuclides. The exact nature and concentration of these radionuclides is dependent on the process from which the scrap originated. 6. Metal smelting sludges Metal smelting slags, especially from tin smelting, may contain enhanced levels of uranium and thorium series radionuclides. 7. Research Following the operation of a particle accelerator, the facility will generally be decommissioned. As radioactive materials will be present in the facility, these must be treated as radioactive wastes and handled accordingly. Following a 40 year operation of one of the new generation of particle accelerators, the volume of decommissioning waste and activity is expected to be within the same order of magnitude as for a 1 GW(e) nuclear power plant which has operated over 40 years. However, it should be noted that the concentration of radioactivity is more evenly distributed in the case of such an accelerator facility.

22

Radiation sources utilised within universities and research institutions also require appropriate management and disposal. Many sources are of low activity and/or short half-life. However some exceptions include high-level long-lived sources such as Radium-226 and Americium-241 used in biological and or agricultural research. These require long-term management and disposal as Intermediate-Level Wastes (ILW). Industrial Radioisotopes 1. Below is table about naturally-occurring radioisotopes: No. 1 2 3 4 Type of radioisotopes Carbon 14 Chlorine 36 Lead 210 Tritium (H3) Their uses measure the age of water (up to 50,000 years) measure sources of chloride and the age of water (up to 2 million years) date layers of sand and soil up to 80 years measure 'young' groundwater (up to 30 years)

2. Below is the table about artificially-produced radioisotopes: No. 1 2 Type of radioisotopes Americium-241: Their uses backscatter gauges, smoke detectors, fill height detectors and in measuring ash content of coal. Caesium-137: radiotracer technique for identification of sources of soil erosion and deposition, in density and fill height level switches. Chromium 57: label sand to study coastal erosion. Gold-198 & Technetium- study sewage and liquid waste movements, as well 99m as tracing factory waste causing ocean pollution, and to trace sand movement in river beds and ocean floors Gold-198: label sand to study coastal erosion. Hydrogen-3 tracer to study sewage and liquid wastes Iridium-192 gamma radiography to locate flaws in metal components. Nickel-63 light sensors in cameras and plasma display, also electronic discharge prevention and in electron capture detectors for thickness gauges. Selenium-75 gamma radiography and non-destructive testing. Strontium-90 industrial gauging. Thallium-204 industrial gauging. Ytterbium-169 gamma radiography and non-destructive testing. Zinc-65 predict the behaviour of heavy metal components in effluents from mining waste water. Manganese-54 predict the behaviour of heavy metal components in effluents from mining waste water. Krypton-85 industrial gauging.
23

3 4

5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16

17

Cobalt-60, Lanthanum-140, Scandium-46, Silver-110m, Gold-198 Cobalt-60

used together in blast furnaces to determine resident times and to quantify yields to measure the furnace performance. gamma sterilisation, industrial radiography, density and fill height switches.

24

Radioisotopes in agriculture

Agricultural Tracers Tracers like those used in medicine are also used in agriculture to study plants and their intake of fertilisers. The usage of tracers allows scientists and farmers to optimise the use of fertilising and weedkilling chemicals. Optimisation of these chemicals is desirable because it saves money, and reduces chemical pollution. When fertilisers are used in overly excessive amounts, the excess will run off and pollute rivers nearby, as well as possibly seeping through to the water table underground and polluting the water supply. To prevent this, studies are conducted to find out the optimal amount of chemical required, with fertilisers and weedkillers often tagged by nitrogen-15 or phosphorus-32 radioisotopes. These radioisotopes are analysed in the crops to see how much of the original chemical was actually consumed by the plants, compared to how much was given. The ionising radiation from radioisotopes is also used to produce crops that are more drought and disease resistant, as well as crops with increased yield or shorter growing time. This practice has been in place for several decades, and has helped feed some third-world countries. The collection of crops that have been modified with radiation include wheat, sorghum, bananas and beans Insect Control About 10% of the world's crops are destroyed by insects. In efforts to control insect plagues, authorities often release sterile laboratory-raised insects into the wild. These insects are made sterile using ionising radiation - they are irradiated with this radiation before they hatch. Female insects that mate with sterile male insects do not reproduce, and the population of the insect pests can be quickly curbed as a consequence. This technique of releasing sterile insects into the wild, called the sterile insect technique (SIT), is commonly used in protecting agricultural industries in many countries around the world. The technique is considered to be safer and better than conventional chemical insecticides. Insects can develop resistance against these chemicals, and there are health concerns about crops treated with them. The largest application of this technique so far was conducted in Mexico against Mediterranean fruit-fly and screwworm in 1981. It was highly successful, and over the next 10 years the eradication program yielded about US$3 billion in economic benefits to the country.
25

SIT is in use in several countries, with support from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Australia is a large producer of many fruits and sterilises up to 25 million fruit fly pupae per week. Food Treatment and Preservation Ionising radiation is used as an alternative to chemicals in the treatment and preservation of foods. A French scientist first discovered that radiation could be used to prolong food shelf life in the 1920s and it became more widely used in World War II. Today, astronauts often eat radiation-preserved food while on space missions. In meats and other foods of animal origin, irradiation destroys the bacteria that causes spoilage as well as diseases and illneses such as salmonella poisoning. This allows for a more safer food supply, and meats that can be stored for longer before spoilage. Additionally, irradiation also inhibit tubers that cause fruits and vegetables to ripen. The result is fresh fruits and vegetables that can be stored for longer before ripening. The irradiation technique is particularly important when exporting to countries with tropical climates, where foods can be spoiled easily due to the warm temperatures. Irradiation of food is carried out using accelerated electrons (beta radiation), and ionising radiation from sources such as the radioisotopes cobalt-60 and cesium-137. Xrays are also sometimes used. None of these sources of radiation used have enough energy to make the exposed foods radioactive. The above table shows the typical doses of radiation used for food treatment:

Radiation dose (kilograys, kGy) "low" up to 1 kGy "medium" 1-10 "high" more than 10 kGy

Purpose inhibits fruit and vegetable ripening controls some bacteria in meats controls insects in grains destroys bacteria in meat including salmonella, shigella, campylobacter and yersinia inhibits mold growth on fruit destroys insects and bacteria in spices sterilises food to the same extent achieved by high heat

Inside the food treatment plant there is a conveyor belt or similar system that transports the food to the radiation source, so that workers do not have to move close to the radiation. The source is packaged in a pencil like device, about 1cm in diametre. The room where irradiation takes place is shielded by concrete walls to prevent radiation from escaping into the environment, although the radiation risk is considerably much less than that from a nuclear reactor. Where gamma radiation is used from a
26

radioisotope source, the radioisotope is stored in a pool of water while not in use, to also help prevent radiation from escaping. However, the plant is in many ways similar to any other - refrigeration is still important. No process can make food completely spoilproof. Food treatment plants of this kind are monitored closely by government health and occupational safety authorities to ensure safe working conditions for employees, as well as safety to any nearby residents. Food irradiation is a well-tested process. Scientists have performed numerous decades of research, and it has been shown that irradiation will not cause significant chemical changes in foods that may affect human health, nor will it cause losses that may affect the nutritional content of food. (Chemical residues left behind by irradiation are in concentrations equivilant to about 3 drops in a swimming pool. Chemical-based preservatives and treatments usually leave more residues.) Taste is usually unaffected. The World Health Organisation and food safety authorities in many countries have approved irradiation as a safe method of food treatment and preservation. Radiation-treated food is still not very widely used today. Despite the scientific evidence and approvals, many activist organisations claim that irradiation is unsafe and exploit the lack of public awareness and concerns about food safety and nuclear issues. Some even say that irradiation is a way that governments can utilise nuclear wastes left over from weapons testing or power generation. (However, the wastes left cannot be used in food processing because they do not provide the right type of ionising radiation.) Consequently, these scare tactics deter the public and some food producers are reluctant to use irradiation for fear of consumer boycotts. However, a recent survey conducted in mid-1998 by the Food Marketing Institute (a United States organisation) revealed that less than one percent of all those surveyed identified irradiation as a concern. Most said that spoilage and microbial hazards were of great concern - they very problem that irradiation addresses. Another study by an academic revealed that about 99% of consumers were willing to buy irradiated food after they were shown scientific data and irradiated food samples. This compared to 50% before shown this data. Irradiation poses less of a risk to human health than many chemical treatments that are used today, which include the addition of chemical preservatives. The use of radiation is sometimes favoured to using chemical preservatives, because no allergic side-effect results. It is also better than heat-sterilisation because irradiation does not destroy nutrients and vitamins, whereas heat treatment does. Irradiation is inexpensive - typical costs are about 1-20 cents per kilogram of food irradiated. About 40 countries worldwide allow irradiation of foods. Depending on the country, irradiated foods may need to be labelled.
27

Quarantine and Exportation Ionising radiation is used to rid goods of parasites and bugs before they are exported out of a country. The radiation kills these parasites that may be quarantine hazards in other countries. The technique is used in Australia to clear primary produce materials such as raw wool and wood for export. It is also used worldwide in transporting archival and historical documents. This is beneficial in that any microorganisms existing in the paper that cause paper deterioration are destroyed.

28

Radioisotopes in archaology
Radioactive Dating The principals of radioactive decay are applied in the technique of radioactive dating, a process widely used by geologists and archaeologists to determine the age of materials and artifacts. Radioactive carbon-14 atoms exist naturally. They are everywhere around us: in our clothes, in the food we eat, even in the air we breathe. However, there are not many of these - only 1.3 10-12 percent of all carbon atoms are the carbon-14 isotope. This is why they do not pose danger to us - there are so few of them. The ratio of radioactive carbon-14 atoms to stable carbon-12 atoms in the atmosphere has remained constant over thousands of years. Although carbon-14 naturally decays, it is also continually being formed. Carbon-14 atoms are formed when neutrons from the sun's cosmic radiation collide with nitrogen-14 atoms in the atmosphere: Thus the decay of carbon-14 is reasonably balanced with its production, resulting in a constant ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12. Carbon dioxide (CO2) molecules in the air can contain either isotope of carbon. This CO2 is continually used by plants to grow. Because the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 in atmospheric CO2 is constant, the intake of CO2 by a plant results in a constant ratio of the two isotopes in the plant's body while it is alive. However, when the plant dies it will no longer take in CO2. As a result, the carbon-14 decaying in the dead plant will not be replenished by a "fresh supply" of more CO 2, resulting in the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 decreasing over time. Because animals eat plants, the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 in them also decreases once they die, since the carbon-14 cannot be replenished. This process of dating using carbon-14 is used by paleontologists. Paleontologists burn a small sample of a fossil to react the carbon in it with oxygen, to form CO2. The CO2 that contains carbon-14 will be radioactive, and the amount can be easily measured using a radiation counter. Burning is done to facilitate measuring the level of carbon-14. Carbon-14 has a half life of about 5730 years. This means that in a given sample of a carbon-containing substance, (without the carbon-14 being replenished) the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 will decrease by half every 5730 years. Suppose for example, some archaeologists uncovered ancient manuscripts and found that the ratio of carbon14 to carbon-12 in the paper was half of that found in living trees. This would mean that the manuscripts would be about 5730 years old.
29

The use of radioactive carbon-14 for dating was first done by William Libby, an academic at the University of Chigaco, USA, in 1947. The relatively short half-life of carbon-14 (5730 years) means that the amount of carbon-14 remaining in materials and objects older than about 80,000 years is too small to be measured with today's equipment. Thus carbon dating is limited to objects which are not older than this. However, the abundance of other atoms with longer half-lives, such as uranium-238 (half-life 4.5 109 years) can be measured in place of carbon-14. Geologists measure the amounts of other radioactive metal isotopes such as uranium238, rubidium-84 and potassium-40 (see below) found in rocks to determine their age. Measurements show that the oldest rocks on Earth are about 4.6 billion years old which is a reasonably accurate estimate of the Earth's age. Similarly, analysis of fossilised plants shows that they first occurred on Earth about 3 billion years ago. The major problem using radiocarbon dating is the chance of getting carbon from the samples mixed up with "fresh" carbon. As well as using carbon-14 to carbon-12 decay, geologists also measure the decay of potassium-40 to argon in dating rocks. However, this method is not accurate for rocks that have been heated above 120c (250f) because the argon diffuses out from the rock at these temperatures. The decay of rubidium-87 to strontium-87 is used to check potassium-argon dates, and is much more accurate because neither isotope is diffused by heat. This rubidium technique was used by scientists to determine the age of the moon. Measurements using uranium-238 were used to determine the age of the Earth. Geology and Element Identification Radioactivity is used to identify the location of deposits of uranium and other radioactive minerals. This is useful in mining exploration. The intensity of detected radiation also is an indication of the amount of uranium that may be located there. The mining industry employs radioactivity in its routines. One example is identification of rocks and minerals. X-rays from a radioactive material can induce other materials to emit fluorescent X-rays. These subsequent X-rays can have their energies measured, and then this gives an indication of the elements present in the original material. The intensity of these X-rays also is an indicator of the amount of the element present. This technique is done by placing probes into the slurry - water that contains sediments of minerals, etc. The probes contain a radioisotope and a detector. The radiation from the isotope causes metals in the slurry to emit fluorescent X-rays - these are identified by the detector also located on the probe. The probe's input is then analysed to give an indication of the types and amount of metals present in the slurry. Metals that are detected this way include lead, copper, tin, zinc, nickel and iron.

30

Elements that can absorb neutrons will release gamma rays. These gamma rays can be analysed for their energies. Specific energies correspond to specific elements - thus this is another way of identifying the metals and minerals that may be present.

31

Negative effects of radioactive substances

Radiation, even in small doses, can cause cancer in humans and other living things. Fast moving photons (gamma rays), electrons (beta rays) and helium nuclei (alpha particles) can crash into other molecules and change their structure. If this happens to a DNA molecule, it can damage the genetic information, and sometimes turn a cell cancerous. Radiation also causes burns, much like sunburn, in large doses over short amounts of time. Usually you can walk away from radioactive substances, lowering your risk. But if you ingest radioactive elements, they stay with you. Particulrly nasty radioactive elements include radon and radioactive iodine. Radon is a chemically inert gas with a short half-life (and therefore decays rapidly, emitting radiation faster than other elements). It is produced naturally as a decay product of longer-lived radioactive elements in rock and soil. It may diffuse through basement walls and into people's homes. It increases the rate of lung cancer when people breathe it in. It is a good idea to ventilate basements and have them checked, particularly in areas of the country where radon is common. Radioactive iodine is also readily absorbed by the body and becomes incorporated in bones, and is therefore difficult to eliminate from the body. The radiation it emits can cause bone cancer over long periods of time. The radium on watch dials was incorporated in paint. Workers used to paint the watch dials by hand, and some would even lick their paint brushes to make a sharper tip. They ingested radon paint, and some became ill with cancer. Naturally ocurring uranium also was used to make bright yellow paint, but I believe this too has been stopped. Some people complain about radiation emitted by those depleted-uranium bullets and shells left over in wars. Residents of areas where such munitions have been used are concerned about the long-term health effects of the radioactivity. There is some concern that the main dangers from the leftover uranium dust may be due to chemical poisoning rather than radiation. Plutonium, while radioactive, also happens to be just plain poisonous. Human bodies do not deal well with heavy metals: lead, mercury, and arsenic come to mind as things not to ingest because they are poisonous. Plutonium may well be the most poisonous of the lot.

32

Referrence
http://library.thinkquest.org/C004606/applications/radioactivedating.shtml http://www.ndt-ed.org/EducationResources/HighSchool/Radiography/radioactivity.htm http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf55.html http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf56.html http://library.thinkquest.org/C004606/applications/foodagriculture.shtml

33