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Lanthanides & Actinides
Uses of Trans-Uranic Elements
Are there any uses for trans-Uranium elements?
Principal Actinide Isotopes Available in Macroscopic Quantities

Isotope

Half-Life

Source

Quantities

232Th

1.39 x 1010 y

Natural (100% abundance)

k. tonnes

231Pa

3.28 x 105 y

Natural (0.34 ppm in uranium ores)

grams

235U

7.13 x 105 y

Natural (0.7204% abundance)

k. tonnes

238U

4.5 x 109 y

Natural (99.2739% abundance)

k. tonnes

237Np

2.2 x 106 y

multi kg

238Pu

86.4 y

kg

239Pu

24,360 y

k. tonnes

241Am

433 y

kg

243Am

7650 y

kg

243Cm

18.12 y

kg

249Bk

325 days

mg

252Cf

2.57 y

mg

Other long-lived isotopes are known, but generally only obtained in traces
Plutonium:

239Pu

  • produced from 238U by neutron capture in all nuclear reactors
  • acts as nuclear fuel in fast-breeder reactors
  • processed for nuclear weapon applications

238Pu

  • produced by
  • used as a compact energy source due to the heat from a -decay
    N.B. a-emission is harmless, unless the emitter is ingested
  • deep-sea diving suits are heated by ca. 750g of 238Pu
  • combined with PbTe thermoelectric Þ totally reliable electricity
    used in Apollo space missions / Human heart pacemakers
Americium:

241Am is used as the a-emission source in smoke alarms


--Info & DownloadsBibliography  [textbook & online resources]

Source: Dr. S.J. Heyes; University of Oxford
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