Applications of Radioisotopes

Our ability to detect minute amounts of radioisotopes makes them powerful tools for studying processes in biochemistry, medicine, materials science, environmental studies, and many other scientific and industrial fields. Such uses depend on the fact that isotopes of an element exhibit very similar chemical and physical behavior. In other words, except for having a less stable nucleus, a radioisotope has nearly the same chemical properties as a nonradioactive isotope of a given element. For example, the fact that C02 is utilized hy a plant in the same way as C02 forms the basis of radiocarbon dating. 

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The diffusion coefficients of cations in metal oxides are usually measured through the use of radioactive isotopes. Because of the friable nature of oxides it is exU emely difficult to use the sectioning technique employed for metal samples. The need for this can be avoided by the application of radioisotopes which emit radiation having a well established absorption law in matter. Isotopes which emit y radiation are very useful when the cation has a relatively high diffusion coefficient because of the long-range peneU ation of y rays. The absorption law is... 

Figure 4. Pathways and applications of radioisotopes in the environmental system.

Bowen, H. J. M. Chemical Applications of Radioisotopes, Methuen, London, 1969. 

Medical x-rays provided one of the first applications of radioisotopes. In 1914, the wounded from World War 1 were pouring into Paris hospitals. Marie Curie converted a Renault car into the first mobile radiological unit and drove it from hospital to hospital. Radioisotopes are now widely used in medicine to diagnose, study, and treat illness. A physician can determine, for example, how and at what rate the thyroid gland takes up iodine by using iodine-131 as a radioactive tracer and cobalt-60 is used to kill rapidly growing cancer cells. 

Another application of radioisotopes is in the oil industry. For example, a small amount of radioisotope is placed into oil pipes in order to observe the circulation of oil. Additionally, if a single pipe is used to transfer more than one petroleum derivative (one after the other) a small amount of radioactive isotope is placed into the last portion of one substance to signal its end and the start of another. 

J. A. Heslop, Industrial Applications of Radioisotopes, in Radiochemistry, Vol. 3, Specialist Periodical Reports, The Chemical Society, London, 1976... 

In the processing industries, one of the major applications of radioisotope tracers is for residence time investigations in which important parameters for plant optimisation, modelling, and automation are obtained. 

T9. Tothill, P., Measurement Techniques for the Clinical Application of Radioisotopes, Med. Monogr. No. 2. Radiochem. Cent., Amersham, England, 1968. 

Reprocessing wastes with high concentration of sodium nitrate Wastes from nuclear laboratories and application of radioisotopes... 

The processes of UF and enhanced UF for low and intermediate-level radioactive waste treatment were studied at INCT, Poland. Liquid radioactive wastes originating mainly form application of radioisotopes are collected from all of Poland at Institute of Atomic Energy, in Swierk. They contain various radioactive substances (total specific activity <10 kBq/m ) and ballast non-active salts (concentration <5 g/dcm ), as well. In the solution, small radioactive ions such as H CrO, ... 

Wastes from nuclear laboratories and application of radioisotopes... 

Some research groups worldwide are currently working on the application of membrane technology to the treatment of radioactive liquid wastes with different levels of activity, from low to high activity waste. Research is mainly focused on wastes from the nuclear industry. However, the nuclear industry is not the only source of radioactive wastes medical and research applications of radioisotopes also generate radioactive wastes. 

Radioactive wastes are generated in the following activities generation of electric power from nuclear fuel applications of radioisotopes in medicine, industry, and research and dismantling of nuclear and radioactive installations. With respect to waste volume and specific activity, the activities that generate the highest amounts of waste are those related to electric power generation. 

Clifton, R.J. Hamilton, E.I. (1982) The application of radioisotopes in the study of estuarine sedimentary processes. Estuarine and Coastal ShelfScience 14,438-46. 

Singh, A. and Singh, H., in Isotopes and Radiation Technology in Industry, Rao, S. M., and KuUtarni, K. M., Eds., National Association for Applications of Radioisotopes and Radiation in Industry, BARC, Bombay (1994). 

Industry has applied radiotracers in a very large variety of ways. More than half of the SOO largest manufacturing concerns in the United States use radioisotopes in the production of metals, chemicals, plastics, pharmaceuticals, paper, rubber, clay and glass products, food, tobacco, textiles, and many other products. Radioisotopes are used to study mixing efficiency, effect of chamber geometry, residence time in reactors, flow rates and patterns in columns and towers for fractionation, absorption, racemization, etc. Some of die many uses are listed in Table 9.6 and a few are described below to reflect the scope and value of the industrial applications of radioisotopes. Quite often the radionuclide used is not isotopic with the system studied. 

Except for and other isotopes of iodine occur in the thyroid and urine only for a short time, due to their short half life (<60 days). 8j and are very seldom used for medical purposes except for the use of in the very early period of medical applications of radioisotopes (Becker and Sawin, 1996). and... 

Dalvie D. Recent advances in the applications of radioisotopes in drug metabolism, toxicology and pharmacokinetics. Curr Pharm Des 2000 6 1009-1028. 

Applications of radioisotopes to studies of ADME have been eomprehen-sively reviewed recently (Dalvie, 2000 Marathe et ah, 2004 Veltkamp, 1990). This chapter focuses on the recent advance in liquid radiochromatographic techniques and their application to metabolite detection and quantification in drug metabolism studies. In addition, the use of liquid radiochromatography coupled with mass spectrometry in metabolite profiling and structural elucidation is described. 

The processes of UF and enhanced UF for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste treatments were studied at INCT, Poland. Liquid radioactive wastes originating mainly from application of radioisotopes are collected from all of... 

What are the two major applications of radioisotopes in nuclear medicine ... 

Radioisotopes were first appfied for industrial problem solving around the middle of the last century. Since then, their use has increased steadily. Today various applications of radioisotopes, as sealed sources and as radiotracers, are well established throughout the world for troubleshooting and optimization of industrial process plants. Petrochemical and chemical process industries are the main users and beneficiaries of the radioisotope technology. 

Many tracer studies are intended to give only qualitative information such as information about the material of which an object is made or the location or route which the material or object is following. An example of this kind of application is the so-called pipe-pig used to clean long pipelines. A radiation source can be installed in the pig in order to localize it in case of blockage. In the early days of the industrial applications of radioisotopes the source in a pipe-pig was typically a lOGBq cobalt-60 source. Nowadays more sensitive radiation detectors are used and short-lived radiotracers like manganese-56 or sodium-24 with activities of 1 GBq are used. These are installed in the pig each time just before the use. 

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