Various

radionuclide A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transfer ...

s emit

beta particle A beta particle, also called beta ray or beta radiation (symbol β), is a high-energy, high-speed electron or positron emitted by the radioactive decay of an atomic nucleus during the process of beta decay. There are two forms of beta decay, β� ...

s, high-speed electrons or positrons, through

radioactive decay Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consid ...

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.

Fission products

Strontium

Strontium-90 Strontium-90 () is a radioactive isotope of strontium produced by nuclear fission, with a half-life of 28.8 years. It undergoes β− decay into yttrium-90, with a decay energy of 0.546 MeV. Strontium-90 has applications in medicine and ...

is a commonly used

beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labi ...

emitter used in industrial sources. It decays to

yttrium-90 Yttrium-90 () is an isotope of yttrium. Yttrium-90 has found a wide range of uses in radiation therapy to treat some forms of cancer. Decay undergoes β− decay to zirconium-90 with a half-life of 64.1 hours and a decay energy of 2.28 ...

, which is itself a beta emitter. It is also used as a thermal power source in

radioisotope thermoelectric generator A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG, RITEG), sometimes referred to as a radioisotope power system (RPS), is a type of nuclear battery that uses an array of thermocouples to convert the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioacti ...

(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

plutonium-238 Plutonium-238 (238Pu or Pu-238) is a fissile, radionuclide, radioactive isotope of plutonium that has a half-life of 87.7 years. Plutonium-238 is a very powerful alpha emitter; as alpha particles are easily blocked, this makes the plutonium-238 ...

, but is cheaper as it is a fission product and is present in a high concentration in

nuclear waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons ...

and can be relatively easily chemically extracted. Strontium-90 based RTGs have been used to power remote

lighthouses A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark ...

. As strontium is water-soluble, the

perovskite Perovskite (pronunciation: ) is a calcium titanium oxide mineral composed of calcium titanate (chemical formula ). Its name is also applied to the class of compounds which have the same type of crystal structure In crystallography, crystal ...

form

strontium titanate Strontium titanate is an oxide of strontium and titanium with the chemical formula Sr Ti O3. At room temperature, it is a centrosymmetric paraelectric material with a perovskite structure. At low temperatures it approaches a ferroelectric pha ...

is usually employed as it is not water-soluble and has a high melting point.

Strontium-89 Strontium-89 () is a radioactive isotope of strontium produced by nuclear fission, with a half-life of 50.57 days. It undergoes β− decay into yttrium-89. Strontium-89 has an application in medicine. History It was used for the first time b ...

is a short-lived beta emitter which has been used as a treatment for

bone tumor A bone tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as noncancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body such as from lung, breast, thyr ...

s, this is used in

palliative care Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wi ...

in terminal

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

cases. Both strontium-89 and strontium-90 are

fission product Nuclear fission products are the atomic fragments left after a large atomic nucleus undergoes nuclear fission. Typically, a large nucleus like that of uranium fissions by splitting into two smaller nuclei, along with a few neutrons, the release ...

Neutron activation products

Tritium

Tritium Tritium ( or , ) or hydrogen-3 (symbol T or H) is a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen with half-life about 12 years. The nucleus of tritium (t, sometimes called a ''triton'') contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus ...

is a low-energy beta emitter commonly used as a

radiotracer A radioactive tracer, radiotracer, or radioactive label is a chemical compound in which one or more atoms have been replaced by a radionuclide so by virtue of its radioactive decay it can be used to explore the mechanism of chemical reactions by t ...

in research and in traser self-powered lightings. The half-life of tritium is 12.3 years. The

electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary electric charge. Electrons belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family, and are generally thought to be elementary partic ...

s from

emission from tritium are so low in energy (average decay energy 5.7 keV) that a

Geiger counter A Geiger counter (also known as a Geiger–Müller counter) is an electronic instrument used for detecting and measuring ionizing radiation. It is widely used in applications such as radiation dosimetry, radiological protection, experimental ...

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. Tritium can also be found in metal work in the form of a tritiated

rust Rust is an iron oxide, a usually reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture. Rust consists of hydrous iron(III) oxides (Fe2O3·nH2O) and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO(OH), ...

, this can be treated by heating the steel in a

furnace A furnace is a structure in which heat is produced with the help of combustion. Furnace may also refer to: Appliances Buildings * Furnace (central heating): a furnace , or a heater or boiler , used to generate heat for buildings * Boiler, used t ...

to drive off the tritium-containing water. Tritium can be made by the

neutron irradiation Neutron activation is the process in which neutron radiation induces radioactivity in materials, and occurs when atomic nuclei capture free neutrons, becoming heavier and entering excited states. The excited nucleus decays immediately by emitti ...

lithium Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid ...

Carbon

Carbon-14 is also commonly used as a beta source in research, it is commonly used as 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 are able to absorb it. Carbon-14 is made by the np reaction of

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at seve ...

-14 with neutrons. It is generated in the atmosphere by the action of

cosmic rays Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our ow ...

on nitrogen. Also a large amount was generated by the neutrons from the

air burst An air burst or airburst is the detonation of an explosive device such as an anti-personnel artillery shell or a nuclear weapon in the air instead of on contact with the ground or target. The principal military advantage of an air burst over ...

s during

nuclear weapons testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected b ...

conducted in the 20th century. The

specific activity Specific activity is the activity per unit mass of a radionuclide and is a physical property of that radionuclide. Activity is a quantity (for which the SI unit is the becquerel) related to radioactivity, and is defined as the number of radi ...

of atmospheric carbon increased as a result of the

nuclear testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, Nuclear weapon yield, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detona ...

but due to the exchange of carbon between the air and other parts of the

carbon cycle The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth. Carbon is the main component of biological compounds as well as a major componen ...

it has now returned to a very low value. For small amounts of carbon-14, one of the favoured disposal methods is to burn the waste in a medical

incinerator Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials. Industrial plants for waste incineration are commonly referred to as waste-to-energy facilities. Incineration and other high ...

, the idea is that by dispersing the radioactivity over a very wide area the threat to any one human is very small.

Phosphorus

Phosphorus-32 Phosphorus-32 (32P) is a radioactive isotope of phosphorus. The nucleus of phosphorus-32 contains 15 protons and 17 neutrons, one more neutron than the most common isotope of phosphorus, phosphorus-31. Phosphorus-32 only exists in small quantit ...

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 DNA research.

Phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ea ...

-32 can be made by the neutron irradiation (np reaction) of

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formul ...

-32 or from

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ea ...

-31 by

neutron capture Neutron capture is a nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus and one or more neutrons collide and merge to form a heavier nucleus. Since neutrons have no electric charge, they can enter a nucleus more easily than positively charged protons, ...

Nickel

Nickel-63 Naturally occurring nickel (28Ni) is composed of five stable isotopes; , , , and , with being the most abundant (68.077% natural abundance). 26 radioisotopes have been characterised with the most stable being with a half-life of 76,000 years, ...

is a radioisotope of nickel that can be used as an energy source in Radioisotope Piezoelectric Generators. It has a half-life of 100.1 years. It can be created by irradiating

nickel-62 Nickel-62 is an isotope of nickel having 28 protons and 34 neutrons. It is a stable isotope, with the highest binding energy per nucleon of any known nuclide (8.7945 MeV). It is often stated that 56Fe is the "most stable nucleus", but only ...

with neutrons in a nuclear reactor.

References

External links

List of Pure Beta Emitters
(U. Wisconsin Madison) {{DEFAULTSORT:Common Beta Emitters Nuclear physics Nuclear chemistry Radioactivity Isotopes Nuclear materials