Radioactive barium strontium

Harrison GE, Carr TEF, Sutton A. 1967. Distribution of radioactive calcium, strontium, barium and radium following intravenous injection into a healthy man. Int J Radiat Biol 13 235-247. 

Bonding in the silica-type covalent phosphate structure is illustrated in Fig. 8.5. Because this bonding is covalent, the resulting minerals are very hard and their aqueous solubility is extremely low. These properties make them attractive for the disposal of radioactive barium and strontium isotopes formed during nuclear reactions. These two isotopes may be converted to their covalent phosphate structures as Sr3(P04)2 and Ba3(P04)2 and can be disposed or stored in repositories safely. 

The properties of hydrated titanium dioxide as an ion-exchange (qv) medium have been widely studied (51—55). Separations include those of alkaH and alkaline-earth metals, zinc, copper, cobalt, cesium, strontium, and barium. The use of hydrated titanium dioxide to separate uranium from seawater and also for the treatment of radioactive wastes from nuclear-reactor installations has been proposed (56). 

Barium titanate thin films can be deposited on various substances by treating with an aqueous solution containing barium salts and an alkanolamine-modifted titanate such as TYZOR TE (151). In a similar fashion, reaction of a tetraalkyl titanate with an alkah metal hydroxide, such as potassium hydroxide, gives oxyalkoxide derivatives (KTi O(OR) ), which can be further processed to give alkali metal titanate powders, films, and fibers (152—155). The fibers can be used as adsorbents for radioactive metals such as cesium, strontium, and uranium (156). 

Group II consists of the five metals beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium and barium, and the radioactive element radium. Magnesium and calcium are generally available for use in school. These metals have the following properties. 

This group contains the elements beryllium (Be), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba) and radium (Ra). After the alkali metals, they are the second most active metals. Their electron configurations end with ns2. They become positive two charged ions by giving of their two valence electrons in chemical reactions. At room temperature, they occur in a monoatomic structure and they are solid at room temperature. Radium, a solid element, is the only radioactive member of this group. 

Samples (156) were taken from 54 reference lithic pieces that represented five rock types. These samples were analyzed at the SLOWPOKE Reactor Facility of the University of Toronto. They were irradiated for 1 min at 2 kW, or for 1 or 2 min at 5 kW (depending on their radioactivity level in preliminary tests). Upon removal from the reactor, the samples, which weighed between 0.1 and 0.3 g, were left to decay for 18 min and were counted for 5 min with a Ge(Li) y-ray detector coupled to a multichannel analyzer. Trace element concentrations were calculated with the comparator method (7). The 15 elements examined were barium, titanium, sodium, aluminum, potassium, manganese, calcium, uranium, dysprosium, strontium, bromine, vanadium, chlorine, magnesium, and silicon. The first seven of these elements were the most useful in the differentiation of major rock types. 

The second column from the left contains the alkaline earth metals, beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium, and radium (Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, and Ra, respectively). Magnesium and calcium are present everywhere and are needed by our salty bodies and the salty bodies of our fellow creatures. Calcium is vital to bones, teeth, seashells, and exoskeletons. Calcium plays a critical role in the operation of our muscles as well as communication between cells. Because strontium is in this family, radioactive strontium, a fission product of certain atomic reactions, can be absorbed by the body and used as it would use calcium. Radium, another radioactive element, is also found in this family. 

Radium is a radioactive element in Group 2 (IIA) and Row 7 of the periodic table. The periodic table is a chart that shows how chemical elements are related to each other. Radium was discovered in 1898 by Marie Curie (1867-1934) and her husband, Pierre Curie (1859-1906). It was found in an ore of uranium called pitchblende. The alkaline earth metals also include beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, and barium. 

The alkaline earth metals show a wider range of chemical properties than the alkali metals. The IIA metals are not as reactive as the lA metals, but they are much too reactive to occur free in nature. They are obtained by electrolysis of their molten chlorides. Calcium and magnesium are abundant in the earth s crust, especially as carbonates and sulfates. Beryllium, strontium, and barium are less abundant. All known radium isotopes are radioactive and are extremely rare. 

Madoz-Escande, C, Garcia-Sanchez. L.. Bonliomme, T., and Morello, M. (2005). Influence of rainfall characteristics on elimination of aerosols of cesium, strontium, barium and tellurium deposited on grassland. J. Environ. Radioact. 84, 1-20. 

The trace alkali and alkaline earth cations are present in the following amounts lithium, 10-300 mg kg-1 rubidium, 20-500 mg kg-1 beryllium, 0.5-10 mg kg-1 strontium, 600-1000 mg kg-1 barium, 100-3000 mg kg-1 and radium, perhaps 10-7 mg kg-1. Some varieties of fmit trees are sensitive to as little as l mg L-1 Li+ in irrigation water, but Li+ toxicity is rare. Rubidium, cesium, strontium, and barium have all been studied in the laboratory, but have received little attention in the field. Strontium has been studied because its radioactive isotope 90Sr (half-life = 28 years) is produced by nuclear fission and could cause long-term soil contamination after nuclear explosions or accidents. In soils the toxic Be2+ ion behaves more like AI3 1 than like the other alkaline earth cations. 

The Group 2A(2) elements are called alkaline earth metals because their oxides give basic (alkaline) solutions and melt at such high temperatures that they remained as solids ( earths ) in the alchemists fires. The group includes rare beryllium (Be), common magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca), less familiar strontium (Sr) and barium (Ba), and radioactive radium (Ra). The Group 2A(2) Family Portrait presents an overview of these elements. 

At the southern end of this family are the metals strontium, barium, and radium. The kingdom s patterns are beginning to be established, and since patterns are the foundation of prediction we are able to predict that these regions will be much more reactive than those to the north. Indeed, they are too aggressive to their environment to be of much use, and nature has found no use for them. Nature s child, humanity, though, has put them to use. Radium is highly radioactive (a nuclear, not a chemical, property), and is used to kill unwanted proliferating cells. A radioactive form of strontium, strontium-90, is a component of nuclear fallout, and if it accumulates in place of calcium in bone it can kill cells that are needed for life and induce leukemia. 

The other elements in column 2 are also water-reactive to varying degrees. These include calcium, strontium, barium, and radium, which is radioactive. The halogens in column 7 are nomnetals. They may be solids, liquids, or gases. Fluorine and chlorine are gases at normal temperatures and pressures. Bromine is a liquid to 58°C and produces vapor rapidly when above that temperature. Iodine is a solid. Astatine is also in column 7. It is radioactive however, such a small amount has ever been found that you are not likely to encounter it. 

CaS04 2 H2O) in plasters to decorate their tombs. These two alkaline earths are among the most abundant elements in the Earth s crust (calcium is fifth and magnesium sixth, by mass), and they occur in a wide variety of minerals. Strontium and barium are less abundant but like magnesium and calcium, they commonly occur as sulfates and carbonates in their mineral deposits. Beryllium is fifth in abundance of the alkaline earths and is obtained primarily from the mineral beryl, 863 2(8103)6. All radium isotopes are radioactive (the longest lived isotope is Ra, with a half-life of 1600 years). Pierre and Marie Curie first isolated radium from the uranium ore pitchblende in 1898. Physical properties of the alkaline earths are given in Table 8.4. 

Analysis of radioactive strontium and barium in water samples General... 

In view of the fact that when the tolerance limit of 30 pCi/1 for an unknown nuclide mixtures is exceeded in the course of water analysis, it is primarily a question of testing for and determining strontium 90 on account of its long half-life and its biological activity on incorporation in the organism. Attention must be paid in the analysis to the disturbance caused by the radioactive alkaline earths, strontium 89 and barium 140, and their daughter products. 

Among the products of the neutron bombardment of uranium, a radioactive element was found that behaved chemically like the elements of Group 2R of the periodic system (strontium, barium, and radium). Among these, only radium had been known to be radioactive, and therefore the new radioactive element was assumed to be radium. However, because its radioactivity differed from that of natural radium, it was thought to be some other isotope of radium, In 1939, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman attempted to isolate this "radium by the same chemical methods used in the original discovery of radium by the... 

---