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Synthetic radioisotopeA Synthetic radioisotope is a radionuclidethat is not found in nature: no natural process or mechanism exists which produces it, or it is so unstable that it decays away in a very short period of time. Examples include Technetium-95 and Promethium-146. Many of these are found in, and harvested from, spent nuclear fuel assemblies. Some must be manufactured in particle accelerators.
ProductionSome synthetic radioisotope are extracted from spent nuclear reactorfuel rods, which contain various fission products. For example, it is estimated that up to 1994, about 49,000 TBq(78 metric ton) of technetiumwas produced in nuclear reactors, which is by far the dominant source of terrestrial technetium. However, only a fraction of the production is used commercially. Other synthetic isotopes are produced in significant quantities by fission but are not yet being reclaimed. When needed, most are manufactured by neutronirradiation of parent isotopes (for example, Tc-97 can be made by neutron irradiation of Ru-96). UsesMost synthetic radioisotopes are extremely radioactive and have a short half life. Though a health hazard, radioactive materials have many medical and industrial uses. Nuclear medicineThe general field of Nuclear medicinecovers any use of radioisotopes for diagnosis or treatment. DiagnosisRadioactive tracer compounds are used to observe the function of various organs and body systems. These compounds use a chemical tracer which is attracted to or concentrated by the activity which is being studied. That chemical tracer incorporates a short lived radioactive isotope, usually one which emits a Gamma raywhich is energetic enough to travel through the body and be captured outside by a Gamma camerato map the concentrations. Gamma cameras and other similar detectors are highly efficient, and the tracer compounds are generally very effective at concentrating at the areas of interest, so the total amounts of radioactive material needed are very small. The metastable nuclear isomerTc-99m is a Gamma-emitter widely used for medical diagnostics because it has a short half-life of 6 hours, but can be easily made in the hospital using a "technetium-cow". TreatmentRadiopharmaceuticalsare any of a number of compounds using a radioisotope for medical treatment, usually by bringing the radioactive isotope to a high concentration in the body near a particular organ. For example, Iodine-131 is used for treating some disorders and tumors of the thyroid gland. Industrial radiation sourcesAlpha particle, beta particle, and gamma rayradioactive emissions are industrially useful. Most sources of these are synthetic radioisotopes. External linksMap of the Nuclides at LANL T-2 Websiteca:Radioisòtop sintètic es:Radioisótopo sintético pl:Syntetyczny izotop promieniotwórczy pt:Radioisótopo sintético sr:???????? ???????????? ??????
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