Технологиялық маңызы бар бета-сәуле шығаратын радионуклидтер

Lists radionuclides of technological importance
Various radionuclides emit beta particles, high speed electrons or positrons, through radioactive decay 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.

Strontium 90 is a commonly used beta emitter used in industrial sources. It decays to yttrium 90, which is itself a beta emitter. It is also used as a thermal power source in radioisotope thermoelectric generator (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, but is cheaper as it is a fission product and is present in a high concentration in nuclear waste and can be relatively easily chemically extracted. Strontium 90 based RTGs have been used to power remote lighthouses. As strontium is water soluble, the perovskite form strontium titanate is usually employed as it is not water soluble and has a high melting point. Strontium 89 is a short lived beta emitter which has been used as a treatment for bone tumors, this is used in palliative care in terminal cancer cases. Both strontium 89 and strontium 90 are fission products.

Tritium is a low energy beta emitter commonly used as a radiotracer in research and in traser self powered lightings. The half life of tritium is 12.3 years. The electrons from beta emission from tritium are so low in energy (average decay energy 5.7 keV) that a Geiger counter 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, this can be treated by heating the steel in a furnace to drive off the tritium containing water. Tritium can be made by the neutron irradiation of lithium.

Carbon 14 is also commonly used as a beta source in research, it is commonly used as a radiotracer 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 14 with neutrons. It is generated in the atmosphere by the action of cosmic rays on nitrogen. Also a large amount was generated by the neutrons from the air bursts during nuclear weapons testing conducted in the 20th century. The specific activity of atmospheric carbon increased as a result of the nuclear testing but due to the exchange of carbon between the air and other parts of the carbon cycle 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, the idea is that by dispersing the radioactivity over a very wide area the threat to any one human is very small.

Phosphorus 32 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 32 can be made by the neutron irradiation (np reaction) of sulfur 32 or from phosphorus 31 by neutron capture.

Nickel 63 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 with neutrons in a nuclear reactor.