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Activation product

Materials made radioactive by neutron activation

An activation product is a material that has been made radioactive by the process of neutron activation.

Process

Fission products and actinides produced by neutron absorption of nuclear fuel itself are normally referred to by those specific names, and activation product reserved for products of neutron capture by other materials, such as structural components of the nuclear reactor or nuclear bomb, the reactor coolant, control rods or other neutron poisons, or materials in the environment. In these cases their production is undesired and they need to be handled as radioactive waste. Some nuclides can be produced both as activation products or as fission products. For example molybdenum-99 which is an important nuclide in "molybdenum cows" used in medical diagnostics can be produced either by fissioning 235U or by neutron irradiation of 98Mo.

Practical uses

However, neutron activation (usually in a dedicated research reactor, but sometimes also in power reactors like the CANDUs at Bruce nuclear generating station) is also used deliberately to produce desired radioisotopes for uses in food irradiation, nuclear medicine and to sterilize equipment via gamma radiation emitted from isotopes such as Cobalt-60.

Activation products in a reactor's primary coolant loop are a main reason reactors use a chain of two or even three coolant loops linked by heat exchangers.

Fusion reactors will not produce radioactive waste from the fusion product nuclei themselves, which are normally just helium-4, but generate high neutron fluxes, so activation products are a particular concern.

List of activation products

Activation product radionuclides include:

Half-life	Decay mode	branching fraction	Source	Notes
12.312 ± 0.025 y	β−	1.0	LNHB
( 1.51 ± 0.06 ) x 106 y	β−	1.0	ENSDF
( 5.7 ± 0.03 ) x 103 y	β−	1.0	LNHB
2.449 ± 0.005 s	β−	1.0	ENSDF
7.13 ± 0.02 s	β−	1.0	ENSDF
26.88 ± 0.05 s	β−	1.0	ENSDF
950.57 ± 0.23 d	EC	0.1011 ± 0.0002a	IAEA-CRP-XG	[1]
β+	0.8989 ± 0.0002a
0.62329 ± 0.00006 d	β−	1.0	IAEA-CRP-XG
9.458 ± 0.012 m	β−	1.0	ENSDF
( 7.17 ± 0.24 ) x 105 y	EC	0.1825 ± 0.0023b	LNHB	[2]
β+	0.8175 ± 0.0023b
87.32 ± 0.16 d	β−	1.0	LNHB
( 0.01 ± 0.03 ) x 105 y	EC	0.019 ± 0.001	LNHB
β−	0.981 ± 0.001
269 ± 3 y	β−	1.0	ENSDF
109.61 ± 0.04 m	β−	1.0	ENSDF
( 4.563 ± 0.013 ) x 1011 d	EC	0.1086 ± 0.0013a	IAEA-CRP-XG	[1]
β−	0.8914 ± 0.0013a
12.36 ± 0.012 h	β−	1.0	ENSDF
( 1.02 ± 0.07 ) x 105 y	EC	1.0	ENSDF
162.61 ± 0.09 d	β−	1.0	ENSDF
3.3492 ± 0.0006 d	β−	1.0	ENSDF
43.67 ± 0.09 h	β−	1.0	ENSDF
27.7009 ± 0.002 d	EC	1.0	IAEA-CRP-XG
312.29 ± 0.26 d	EC	1.0	IAEA-CRP-XG
0.107449 ± 0.000019 d	β−	1.0	IAEA-CRP-XG
( 1.0027 ± 0.0023 ) x 103 d	EC	1.0	IAEA-CRP-XG
44.494 ± 0.013 d	β−	1.0	IAEA-CRP-XG
271.8 ± 0.05 d	EC	1.0	IAEA-CRP-XG
70.86 ± 0.06 d	β+	0.15 ± 0.0020a	IAEA-CRP-XG	[1]
EC	0.85 ± 0.0020a
( 1.92523 ± 0.00027 ) x 103 d	β−	1.0	IAEA-CRP-XG
( 7.6 ± 0.5 ) x 104 y	EC	1.0	ENSDF
98.7 ± 2.4 y	β−	1.0	LNHB
2.51719 ± 0.00026 h	β−	1.0	ENSDF
0.52929 ± 0.00018 d	β+	0.179 ± 0.002a	IAEA-CRP-XG	[1]
β−	0.39 ± 0.003a
EC	0.431 ± 0.005a
5.12 ± 0.014 m	β−	1.0	ENSDF
243.86 ± 0.2 d	β+	0.0142 ± 0.0001a	IAEA-CRP-XG	[1]
EC	0.9858 ± 0.0001a
( 5.73 ± 0.22 ) x 103 d	IT	1.0	IAEA-CRP-XG
( 4.0 ± 0.8 ) x 103 y	EC	1.0	ENSDF
0.250281 ± 0.000022 d	β−	0.000037 ± 0.000006a	IAEA-CRP-XG	[1]
IT	0.999963 ± 0.000006a
249.85 ± 0.1 d	IT	0.0136 ± 0.0008a	IAEA-CRP-XG	[1]
β−	0.9864 ± 0.0008a
4.486 ± 0.004 h	β−	0.05 ± 0.008	ENSDF
IT	0.95 ± 0.008
12.93 ± 0.05 d	β−	0.473 ± 0.006	ENSDF
EC	0.527 ± 0.006
70 ± 2 d	EC	1.0	ENSDF
42.39 ± 0.06 d	β−	1.0	ENSDF
114.43 ± 0.04 d	β−	1.0	ENSDF
121.2 ± 0.2 d	EC	1.0	ENSDF
75.1 ± 0.3 d	β−	1.0	ENSDF
23.72 ± 0.06 h	β−	1.0	ENSDF
2.695 ± 0.0007 d	β−	1.0	IAEA-CRP-XG
64.14 ± 0.05 h	EC	1.0	ENSDF
46.594 ± 0.012 d	β−	1.0	IAEA-CRP-XG

ENSDF	Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File, http://www-nds.iaea.org/ensdf/, 5 June 2008.

[1] Branching fractions from LNHB database.

[2] Branching fractions renormalised to sum to 1.0..

Nuclide		See also		Halflife
(years)		Parent
Tritium
Beryllium-10
Carbon-14
Sodium-24
Sulfur-35
Chlorine-36
Argon-39
Iron-55
Nickel-59
Cobalt-60
Nickel-63
Molybdenum-93
Niobium-93m
Niobium-94
Technetium-99
Silver-108m
Cadmium-113m
Tin-121m
Lead-205
Polonium-210

References

(2020). "Molybdenum-99 production pathways and the sorbents for 99Mo/99mTc generator systems using (N, γ) 99Mo: A review". SN Applied Sciences.
"Isotopes and Medical Innovation".
(19 August 2025). "Ottawa, Bruce Power detail plans to expand medical isotope production". The Globe and Mail.
(24 November 2023). "Bruce completes largest-to-date radioisotope delivery".
"Cobalt-60: A Sustainable Sterilization Method".
"Half-lives and decay branching fractions for activation products". IAEA.

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