Actinium radionuclides

X 10 yr) and ends with stable ° Pb, after emission of eight alpha (a) and six beta (jS) particles. The thorium decay series begins with Th (ti/2 = 1.41 X 10 °yr) and ends with stable ° Pb, after emission of six alpha and four beta particles. Two isotopes of radium and Th are important tracer isotopes in the thorium decay chain. The actinium decay series begins with (ti/2 = 7.04 X 10 yr) and ends with stable Pb after emission of seven alpha and four beta particles. The actinium decay series includes important isotopes of actinium and protactinium. These primordial radionuclides, as products of continental weathering, enter the ocean primarily by the discharge of rivers. However, as we shall see, there are notable exceptions to this generality. 

Similar equations describe the decays of radionuclide to radiogenic pb and of Th to 2° Pb. The decay of radionuclide (t, 2 0.72 x 10° a) gives rise to the actinium series, which ends in the stable 2° Pb after the emission of seven a ( He) decays and four 3 decays ... 

The great variety of radionuclides present in thorium and uranium ores are listed in Tables 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3. Whereas thorium has only one isotope with a very long half-life (- Th), uranium has two and giving ri.se to one decay scries for Th and two for U. In order to distinguish the two decay series of U, they were named after long-lived members of practical importance the uranium-radium series and the actinium series. The uranium-radium series includes the most important radium isotope ( Ra) and the actinium scries the most important actinium isotope ( Ac),... 

In natural U, the radionuclides of the uranium family and the actinium family are present, and sometimes also radionuclides of the thorium family. Therefore, direct determination of U in ores without chemical separation is difficult, especially since the absorption of the radiation depends on the nature of the minerals. Generally, the samples are dissolved and Th is separated, e.g. by coprecipitation or by extraction with thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTA). Radioactive equilibrium between " Th and the daughter nuclide 234mp jg rather quickly attained, and the high-energy yS" radiation of the latter can easily be measured. A prerequisite of the determination of U by measuring the activity of either " Th or 234mp jg establishment of radioactive equilibrium. This means that the uranium compound must not have been treated chemically for about 8 months. 

DOTA (Figure 6.7-9) is a also useful bifunctional chelator for labeling antibodies with radionuclides of lead, bismuth, and actinium for targeted in situ radiotherapy... 

When an element has more than one radioisotope, determinations and data analysis are generally more complex because the isotopes may differ in half-life, especially when a series is involved, e.g., radium, thorium, polonium, radon, actinium, protactinium, and uranium. One possibility is to make measurements after the decay of the short-lived radionuclides, but this may require long waiting times. In favorable cases, it is more convenient to measure the activity of decay products (e.g., radon, thoron ( Rn), actinon ( Rn)), or correct the measurements of the short-lived radioisotopes after determination of the isotopic composition. 

The exponential laws of radioactive-series decay and growth of radionuclides were first formulated by Rutherford and Soddy in 1902, to explain their results (Rutherford and Soddy 1902,1903) on the thorium series of radionuclides. In 1910, Bateman (Bateman 1910) derived generalized mathematical expressions that were used to describe the decay and growth of the naturally occurring actinium, uranium, and thorium series until the discovery of nuclear fission and other new radioactive decay series were found in the 1940s. For the description of half-lives and decay constants, activities and number of radionuclides involved in the decay of two radionuclides, Friedlander et al. (1981) have given a representative overview (see also O Chap. 5 in Vol. 1). 

The radionuclide Rn (Ty2 = 56 s) is an intermediate of the thorium decay series (from Th to Pb) this radionuclide (another isotope of the element radon besides its most common isotope Rn) has the special name of thoron. Due to the short half-life, the exhalation rate of Th from minerals to the atmosphere is small, and the concentration in air is about 10 times less than that of Rn, at equilibrium. Therefore, the dose contribution is negligible, except in the atmosphere where the upper soils are rich in thorium content. The actinium series (from to Pb) involves the intermediate of Rn (Ti/2 - 4 s). Due to the very short half-life of Rn, its exhalation from soil is very small, as is the dose contribution. 

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