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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Common beta emitters</span></span>

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<p>Various <a href="Radionuclide" title="Radionuclide">radionuclides</a> emit <a href="Beta_particle" title="Beta particle">beta particles</a> (high-speed electrons or positrons) through <a href="Radioactive_decay" title="Radioactive decay">radioactive decay</a> of their atomic nucleus. These can be used in a range of different industrial, scientific, and medical applications. This article lists some common beta-emitting radionuclides of technological importance, and their properties.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Fission_products">Fission products</h2></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Strontium">Strontium</h3></div>

<p><a href="Strontium-90" title="Strontium-90">Strontium-90</a> is a commonly used <a href="Beta_particle" title="Beta particle">beta</a> emitter used in industrial sources. It decays to <a href="Yttrium-90" title="Yttrium-90">yttrium-90</a>, which is itself a beta emitter. It is also used as a thermal power source in <a href="Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator" title="Radioisotope thermoelectric generator">radioisotope thermoelectric generator</a> (RTG) power packs. These use heat produced by radioactive decay of strontium-90 to generate heat, which can be converted to electricity using a thermocouple. Strontium-90 has a shorter half-life, produces less power, and requires more shielding than <a href="Plutonium-238" title="Plutonium-238">plutonium-238</a>, but is cheaper as it is a fission product and is present in a high concentration in <a href="Nuclear_waste" class="mw-redirect" title="Nuclear waste">nuclear waste</a> and can be relatively easily chemically extracted. Strontium-90 based RTGs have been used to power remote <a href="Lighthouses" class="mw-redirect" title="Lighthouses">lighthouses</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> As strontium is water-soluble, the <a href="Perovskite_(structure)" title="Perovskite (structure)">perovskite</a> form <a href="Strontium_titanate" title="Strontium titanate">strontium titanate</a> is usually employed as it is not water-soluble and has a high melting point.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p><a href="Strontium-89" title="Strontium-89">Strontium-89</a> is a short-lived beta emitter which has been used as a treatment for <a href="Bone_tumor" title="Bone tumor">bone tumors</a>; it is used in <a href="Palliative_care" title="Palliative care">palliative care</a> in terminal <a href="Cancer" title="Cancer">cancer</a> cases. Both strontium-89 and strontium-90 are <a href="Fission_product" class="mw-redirect" title="Fission product">fission products</a>.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Neutron_activation_products">Neutron activation products</h2></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Tritium">Tritium</h3></div>

<p><a href="Tritium" title="Tritium">Tritium</a> is a low-energy beta emitter commonly used as a <a href="Radiotracer" class="mw-redirect" title="Radiotracer">radiotracer</a> in research and in <a href="Self-powered_lighting" class="mw-redirect" title="Self-powered lighting">self-powered lighting</a>. The half-life of tritium is 12.3 years. The <a href="Electron" title="Electron">electrons</a> from <a href="Beta_particle" title="Beta particle">beta</a> emission from tritium are so low in energy (average decay energy 5.7 keV) that a <a href="Geiger_counter" title="Geiger counter">Geiger counter</a> cannot be used to detect them. An advantage of the low energy of the decay is that it is easy to shield, since the low-energy electrons penetrate only to shallow depths, reducing the safety issues in deal with the isotope.

</p><p>Tritium can also be found in <a href="Metal_work" class="mw-redirect" title="Metal work">metal work</a> in the form of a tritiated <a href="Rust" title="Rust">rust</a>, this can be treated by heating the <a href="Steel" title="Steel">steel</a> in a <a href="Metallurgical_furnace" title="Metallurgical furnace">furnace</a> to drive off the tritium-containing water.

</p><p>Tritium can be made by the <a href="Neutron_irradiation" class="mw-redirect" title="Neutron irradiation">neutron irradiation</a> of <a href="Lithium" title="Lithium">lithium</a>.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Carbon">Carbon</h3></div>

<p><a href="Carbon-14" title="Carbon-14">Carbon-14</a> is also commonly used as a beta source in research, it is commonly used as a <a href="Radiotracer" class="mw-redirect" title="Radiotracer">radiotracer</a> in organic compounds. While the energy of the beta particles is higher than those of tritium they are still quite low in energy. For instance the walls of a glass bottle absorb it. Carbon-14 is made by the <a href="Np_reaction" class="mw-redirect" title="Np reaction">np reaction</a> of <a href="Nitrogen" title="Nitrogen">nitrogen</a>-14 with neutrons. It is generated in the atmosphere by the action of <a href="Cosmic_rays" class="mw-redirect" title="Cosmic rays">cosmic rays</a> on nitrogen. Also a large amount was generated by the neutrons from the <a href="Air_burst" title="Air burst">air bursts</a> during <a href="Nuclear_weapons_testing" title="Nuclear weapons testing">nuclear weapons testing</a> conducted in the 20th century. The <a href="Specific_activity" title="Specific activity">specific activity</a> of atmospheric carbon increased as a result of the <a href="Nuclear_testing" class="mw-redirect" title="Nuclear testing">nuclear testing</a> but due to the exchange of carbon between the air and other parts of the <a href="Carbon_cycle" title="Carbon cycle">carbon cycle</a> it has now returned to a very low value. For small amounts of carbon-14, one of the favoured <a href="Waste_management" title="Waste management">disposal</a> methods is to burn the waste in a medical <a href="Incinerator" class="mw-redirect" title="Incinerator">incinerator</a>, the idea is that by dispersing the radioactivity over a very wide area the threat to any one human is very small.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Phosphorus">Phosphorus</h3></div>

<p><a href="Phosphorus-32" title="Phosphorus-32">Phosphorus-32</a> is a short-lived high energy beta emitter, which is used in research in radiotracers. It has a half-life of 14 days. It can be used in <a href="DNA" title="DNA">DNA</a> research. <a href="Phosphorus" title="Phosphorus">Phosphorus</a>-32 can be made by the neutron irradiation (np reaction) of <a href="Sulfur" title="Sulfur">sulfur</a>-32 or from <a href="Phosphorus" title="Phosphorus">phosphorus</a>-31 by <a href="Neutron_capture" title="Neutron capture">neutron capture</a>.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Nickel">Nickel</h3></div>

<p><a href="Nickel-63" class="mw-redirect" title="Nickel-63">Nickel-63</a> is a radioisotope of nickel that can be used as an energy source in <a href="Radioisotope_piezoelectric_generator" title="Radioisotope piezoelectric generator">Radioisotope Piezoelectric Generators</a>. It has a half-life of 100.1 years. It can be created by irradiating <a href="Nickel-62" title="Nickel-62">nickel-62</a> with neutrons in a nuclear reactor.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<ul><li><a href="Betavoltaic_device" title="Betavoltaic device">Betavoltaic device</a></li>

<li><a href="Commonly_used_gamma-emitting_isotopes" title="Commonly used gamma-emitting isotopes">Commonly used gamma-emitting isotopes</a></li>

<li><a href="List_of_alpha-emitting_nuclides" title="List of alpha-emitting nuclides">List of alpha-emitting nuclides </a></li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

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</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.atomicinsights.com/sep96/materials.html">"RTG Heat Sources: Two Proven Materials - Atomic Insights"</a>. September 1996.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFKhajepourRahmani2017" class="citation journal cs1">Khajepour, Abolhasan; Rahmani, Faezeh (1 January 2017). "An approach to design a 90Sr radioisotope thermoelectric generator using analytical and Monte Carlo methods with ANSYS, COMSOL, and MCNP". <i>Applied Radiation and Isotopes</i>. <b>119</b>: <span class="nowrap">51–</span>59. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.apradiso.2016.11.001">10.1016/j.apradiso.2016.11.001</a>. <a href="PMID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="PMID (identifier)">PMID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27842232">27842232</a>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFTsvetkovPustovalovGusevBaranov2005" class="citation book cs1">Tsvetkov, L. A.; Pustovalov, A. A.; Gusev, V. V.; Baranov, V. Y.; Tikhomirov, A. V. (April 2005). "Possible Way To Industrial Production of Nickel-63 and the Prospects of Its Use". <i>Proceedings of the 5th international conference on isotopes 5ICI</i>. Medimond. pp. <span class="nowrap">99–</span>102. <a href="CiteSeerX_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="CiteSeerX (identifier)">CiteSeerX</a> <span class="id-lock-free" title="Freely accessible"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.493.7715">10.1.1.493.7715</a></span>. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-88-7587-186-4</bdi>.</cite></span>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>

<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://blanchard.engr.wisc.edu/purebeta.htm">List of Pure Beta Emitters</a>, (U. Wisconsin Madison)</li></ul></div><div><div class="zim-footer">

This article is issued from <a class="external text" title="Last edited on 2025-06-19" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?title=Common_beta_emitters&oldid=1296416338">Wikipedia</a>. The text is available under <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

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