High-activity isotopes

In some countries there is an increasing number of radiation sources which are no longer used and have to be disposed of. Some of these sources contain plutonium or americium. There have been serious accidents with high active isotopes from radiation sources like cesium or cobalt. A strict safety regime has to be followed to prevent hazards by unauthorized use or negligence. 

The preceding data, though limited in nature, represent one of the first attempts to measure solid state diffusion rates of alkali elements into the near-surface region of feldspars and natural glasses at low temperature. As such, interesting comparisons can be made with diffusion coefficients and activation energies calculated from numerous high temperature isotope and tracer diffusion studies f 11-181. 

Separation and Quantitation.—The specific radioactivity of [y-32P]ATP of very high activity (up to 240 Ci per millimole) may be measured by using it to phosphorylate [dT(pT)10] quantitatively, using polynucleotide kinase, isolating the labelled undecanucleotide, and measuring its activity.170 Isotope dilution is used to confirm the values. An alternative method of measuring specific radioactivities of ribo-nucleoside triphosphates utilizes a 3H-labelled nucleoside triphosphate (e.g. UTP) of unknown specific activity, a 14C-labelled nucleoside (e.g. ATP), a suitable primer in... 

In 1940 D. R. Corson, K. R. Mackenzie, and E. Segre at the University of California bombarded bismuth with alpha particles (26, 27). Preliminary tracer studies indicated that they had obtained element 85, which appeared to possess metallic properties. The pressure of war work prevented a continuation of these studies at the time. After the war, the investigators resumed their work, and in 1947 proposed the name astatine, symbol At, for their element. The name comes from the Greek word for unstable, since this element is the only halogen without stable isotopes (28). The longest lived isotope is At210 with a half-life of 8.3 hours and a very high activity. 

Of the radio-active isotopes of chlorine, only chlorine-36 could be used in polymer research. Its half-life is very long it gives /8-rays of maximum energy of 0.71 MeV and of considerably greater penetrating power than those from the isotopes just considered. The available specific activities are not very high but are adequate for the applications which can be foreseen. 

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