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Strontium-90

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This article is about the chemical isotope. For the band, see Strontium 90 (band). For fictional references to strontium-90, see Materials science in science fiction.

Strontium-90 (90
Sr
) 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.[2] Strontium-90 has applications in medicine and industry and is an isotope of concern in fallout from nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons testing, and nuclear accidents.[3]

Strontium-90, 90Sr
Strontium-90 test source in tin
General
Symbol90Sr
Namesstrontium-90, 90Sr, Sr-90
Protons (Z)38
Neutrons (N)52
Nuclide data
Natural abundancesyn
Half-life (t1/2)28.79 years
Isotope mass89.9077279(16)[1] Da
Decay products90Y
Decay modes
Decay modeDecay energy (MeV)
Beta decay0.546
Isotopes of strontium
Complete table of nuclides

Radioactivity

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Naturally occurring strontium is nonradioactive and nontoxic at levels normally found in the environment, but 90Sr is a radiation hazard.[4] 90Sr undergoes β− decay with a half-life of 28.79 years and a decay energy of 0.546 MeV distributed to an electron, an antineutrino, and the yttrium isotope 90Y, which in turn undergoes β− decay with a half-life of 64 hours and a decay energy of 2.28 MeV distributed to an electron, an antineutrino, and 90Zr (zirconium), which is stable.[5] Note that 90Sr/Y is almost a pure beta particle source; the gamma photon emission from the decay of 90Y is so infrequent that it can normally be ignored.

90Sr has a specific activity of 5.21 TBq/g.[6]

Medium-lived
fission products
t½
(year) 		Yield
(%) 		Q
(keV) 		βγ
155Eu  4.76 0.0803  252 βγ
85Kr 10.76 0.2180  687 βγ
113mCd 14.1  0.0008  316 β
90Sr 28.9  4.505   2826 β
137Cs 30.23 6.337   1176 βγ
121mSn 43.9  0.00005 390 βγ
151Sm 88.8  0.5314  77 β

Fission product

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90Sr is a product of nuclear fission. It is present in significant amount in spent nuclear fuel, in radioactive waste from nuclear reactors and in nuclear fallout from nuclear tests. For thermal neutron fission as in today's nuclear power plants, the fission product yield from uranium-235 is 5.7%, from uranium-233 6.6%, but from plutonium-239 only 2.0%.[7]

Nuclear waste

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Strontium-90 is classified as high-level waste. Its 29-year half-life means that it can take hundreds of years to decay to negligible levels. Exposure from contaminated water and food may increase the risk of leukemia and bone cancer.[8] Reportedly, thousands of capsules of radioactive strontium containing millions of curies are stored at Hanford Site's Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility.[9]

Remediation

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Algae has shown selectivity for strontium in studies, where most plants used in bioremediation have not shown selectivity between calcium and strontium, often becoming saturated with calcium, which is greater in quantity and also present in nuclear waste.[8]

Researchers have looked at the bioaccumulation of strontium by Scenedesmus spinosus (algae) in simulated wastewater. The study claims a highly selective biosorption capacity for strontium of S. spinosus, suggesting that it may be appropriate for use of nuclear wastewater.[10]

A study of the pond alga Closterium moniliferum using stable strontium found that varying the ratio of barium to strontium in water improved strontium selectivity.[8]

Biological effects

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Biological activity

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Strontium-90 is a "bone seeker" that exhibits biochemical behavior similar to calcium, the next lighter group 2 element.[4][11] After entering the organism, most often by ingestion with contaminated food or water, about 70–80% of the dose gets excreted.[3] Virtually all remaining strontium-90 is deposited in bones and bone marrow, with the remaining 1% remaining in blood and soft tissues.[3] Its presence in bones can cause bone cancer, cancer of nearby tissues, and leukemia.[12] Exposure to 90Sr can be tested by a bioassay, most commonly by urinalysis.[4]

The biological half-life of strontium-90 in humans has variously been reported as from 14 to 600 days,[13][14] 1000 days,[15] 18 years,[16] 30 years[17] and, at an upper limit, 49 years.[18] The wide-ranging published biological half life figures are explained by strontium's complex metabolism within the body. However, by averaging all excretion paths, the overall biological half life is estimated to be about 18 years.[19]

The elimination rate of strontium-90 is strongly affected by age and sex, due to differences in bone metabolism.[20]

Together with the caesium isotopes 134Cs and 137Cs, and the iodine isotope 131I, it was among the most important isotopes regarding health impacts after the Chernobyl disaster. As strontium has an affinity to the calcium-sensing receptor of parathyroid cells that is similar to that of calcium, the increased risk of liquidators of the Chernobyl power plant to suffer from primary hyperparathyroidism could be explained by binding of strontium-90.[21]

Uses

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Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs)

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The radioactive decay of strontium-90 generates a significant amount of heat, 0.95 W/g in the form of pure strontium metal or approximately 0.460 W/g as strontium titanate[22] and is cheaper than the alternative 238Pu. It is used as a heat source in many Russian/Soviet radioisotope thermoelectric generators, usually in the form of strontium titanate.[23] It was also used in the US "Sentinel" series of RTGs.[24] Startup company Zeno Power is developing RTGs that use strontium-90 from the DOD, and is aiming to ship product by 2026.[25]

Industrial applications

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90Sr finds use in industry as a radioactive source for thickness gauges.[3]

Medical applications

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90Sr finds extensive use in medicine as a radioactive source for superficial radiotherapy of some cancers. Controlled amounts of 90Sr and 89Sr can be used in treatment of bone cancer, and to treat coronary restenosis via vascular brachytherapy. It is also used as a radioactive tracer in medicine and agriculture.[3]

Aerospace applications

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90Sr is used as a blade inspection method in some helicopters with hollow blade spars to indicate if a crack has formed.[26]

Radiological warfare

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Further information: radiological warfare

In April 1943, Enrico Fermi suggested to Robert Oppenheimer the possibility of using the radioactive byproducts from enrichment to contaminate the German food supply. The background was fear that the German atomic bomb project was already at an advanced stage, and Fermi was also skeptical at the time that an atomic bomb could be developed quickly enough. Oppenheimer discussed the proposal with Edward Teller, who suggested the use of strontium-90. James Bryant Conant and Leslie R. Groves were also briefed, but Oppenheimer wanted to proceed with the plan only if enough food could be contaminated with the weapon to kill half a million people.[27]

90Sr contamination in the environment

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Strontium-90 is not quite as likely as caesium-137 to be released as a part of a nuclear reactor accident because it is much less volatile, but is probably the most dangerous component of the radioactive fallout from a nuclear weapon.[28]

A study of hundreds of thousands of deciduous teeth, collected by Dr. Louise Reiss and her colleagues as part of the Baby Tooth Survey, found a large increase in 90Sr levels through the 1950s and early 1960s. The study's final results showed that children born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1963 had levels of 90Sr in their deciduous teeth that was 50 times higher than that found in children born in 1950, before the advent of large-scale atomic testing. Reviewers of the study predicted that the fallout would cause increased incidence of disease in those who absorbed strontium-90 into their bones.[29] However, no follow up studies of the subjects have been performed, so the claim is untested.

An article with the study's initial findings was circulated to U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1961, and helped convince him to sign the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the United Kingdom and Soviet Union, ending the above-ground nuclear weapons testing that placed the greatest amounts of nuclear fallout into the atmosphere.[30]

The Chernobyl disaster released roughly 10 PBq, or about 5% of the core inventory, of strontium-90 into the environment.[31] The Kyshtym disaster released strontium-90 and other radioactive material into the environment. It is estimated to have released 20 MCi (800 PBq) of radioactivity. The Fukushima Daiichi disaster had from the accident until 2013 released 0.1 to 1 PBq of strontium-90 in the form of contaminated cooling water into the Pacific Ocean.[32]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Wang, Meng; Huang, W.J.; Kondev, F.G.; Audi, G.; Naimi, S. (2021). "The AME 2020 atomic mass evaluation (II). Tables, graphs and references". Chinese Physics C. 45 (3): 030003. doi:10.1088/1674-1137/abddaf.
  2. ^ "Table of Isotopes decay data". Lund University. Archived from the original on 18 May 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Strontium | Radiation Protection | US EPA". EPA. 24 April 2012. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  4. ^ a b c TOXICOLOGICAL PROFILE FOR STRONTIUM (PDF), Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, April 2004, archived (PDF) from the original on 7 May 2021, retrieved 13 October 2014
  5. ^ Decay data from National Nuclear Data Center Archived 1 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in the US.
  6. ^ Delacroix, D.; Guerre, J. P.; Leblanc, P.; Hickman, C. (2002). Radionuclide and Radiation Protection Data Handbook 2002 (2nd ed.). Nuclear Technology Publishing. ISBN 978-1-870965-87-3.
  7. ^ "Livechart - Table of Nuclides - Nuclear structure and decay data". IAEA. Archived from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  8. ^ a b c Potera, Carol (2011). "HAZARDOUS WASTE: Pond Algae Sequester Strontium-90". Environ Health Perspect. 119 (6): A244. doi:10.1289/ehp.119-a244. PMC 3114833. PMID 21628117.
  9. ^ https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/04/f14/OAS-L-14-04.pdf Archived 10 October 2023 at the Wayback Machine "Long-Term Storage of Cesium and Strontium at the Hanford Site" Inspector General Report No. OAS-L-14-04 . March 2014.
  10. ^ Liu, Mingxue; Dong, Faqin; Kang, Wu; Sun, Shiyong; Wei, Hongfu; Zhang, Wei; Nie, Xiaoqin; Guo, Yuting; Huang, Ting; Liu, Yuanyuan (2014). "Biosorption of Strontium from Simulated Nuclear Wastewater by Scenedesmus spinosus under Culture Conditions: Adsorption and Bioaccumulation Processes and Models". Int J Environ Res Public Health. 11 (6): 6099–6118. doi:10.3390/ijerph110606099. PMC 4078568. PMID 24919131.
  11. ^ "NRC: Glossary -- Bone seeker". US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 7 May 2014. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  12. ^ "STRONTIUM-90" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 May 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  13. ^ Tiller, B. L. (2001), "4.5 Fish and Wildlife Surveillance" (PDF), Hanford Site 2001 Environmental Report, DOE, archived from the original (PDF) on 11 May 2013, retrieved 14 January 2014
  14. ^ Driver, C.J. (1994), Ecotoxicity Literature Review of Selected Hanford Site Contaminants (PDF), DOE, doi:10.2172/10136486, archived from the original on 22 October 2021, retrieved 14 January 2014
  15. ^ "Freshwater Ecology and Human Influence". Area IV Envirothon. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  16. ^ "Radioisotopes That May Impact Food Resources" (PDF). Epidemiology, Health and Social Services, State of Alaska. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 August 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  17. ^ "Human Health Fact Sheet: Strontium" (PDF). Argonne National Laboratory. October 2001. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  18. ^ "Biological Half-life". HyperPhysics. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  19. ^ Glasstone, Samuel; Dolan, Philip J. (1977). "XII: Biological Effects" (PDF). The effects of Nuclear Weapons. p. 605. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  20. ^ Shagina, N B; Bougrov, N G; Degteva, M O; Kozheurov, V P; Tolstykh, E I (2006). "An application of in vivo whole body counting technique for studying strontium metabolism and internal dose reconstruction for the Techa River population". Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 41 (1): 433–440. Bibcode:2006JPhCS..41..433S. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/41/1/048. ISSN 1742-6588.
  21. ^ Boehm BO, Rosinger S, Belyi D, Dietrich JW (August 2011). "The Parathyroid as a Target for Radiation Damage". New England Journal of Medicine. 365 (7): 676–678. doi:10.1056/NEJMc1104982. PMID 21848480.
  22. ^ Harris, Dale; Epstein, Joseph (1968). Properties of Selected Radioisotopes. NASA (Report). 19680020487. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  23. ^ Standring, WJF; Selnæs, ØG; Sneve, M; Finne, IE; Hosseini, A; Amundsen, I; Strand, P (2005), Assessment of environmental, health and safety consequences of decommissioning radioisotope thermal generators (RTGs) in Northwest Russia (PDF), Østerås: Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016, retrieved 14 January 2014
  24. ^ "Power Sources for Remote Arctic Applications" (PDF). Washington, DC: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. June 1994. OTA-BP-ETI-129. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  25. ^ "Zeno Power". Zeno Power. Archived from the original on 2 March 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  26. ^ "Wireless blade monitoring system and process". Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  27. ^ Rhodes, Richard (2012). The making of the atomic bomb. Simon & Schuster. pp. 510ff. ISBN 978-1-4711-1123-5. OCLC 1096260191.
  28. ^ "Nuclear Fission Fragments". HyperPhysics. Archived from the original on 15 June 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  29. ^ Schneir, Walter (25 April 1959). "Strontium-90 in U.S. Children". The Nation. 188 (17): 355–357.
  30. ^ Hevesi, Dennis. "Dr. Louise Reiss, Who Helped Ban Atomic Testing, Dies at 90" Archived 19 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, January 10, 2011. Accessed January 10, 2011.
  31. ^ "II: The release, dispersion and deposition of radionuclides", Chernobyl: Assessment of Radiological and Health Impacts (PDF), NEA, 2002, archived (PDF) from the original on 22 June 2015, retrieved 13 October 2014
  32. ^ Povinec, P. P.; Aoyama, M.; Biddulph, D.; et al. (2013). "Cesium, iodine and tritium in NW Pacific waters – a comparison of the Fukushima impact with global fallout". Biogeosciences. 10 (8): 5481–5496. Bibcode:2013BGeo...10.5481P. doi:10.5194/bg-10-5481-2013. hdl:1912/6245. ISSN 1726-4189.
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