December Isotope Spotlights
The DOE Isotope Program maintains an extensive inventory of radioactive and stable isotopes. Below are a select few that are currently in inventory and ready to dispense to meet your research and commercial needs. For a complete list visit our product catalog.
Cerium-139
Cerium-139 (Ce-139) is used in mixed calibration sources and to determine attenuation maps for SPECT medical diagnostic tomography. It also can be used as a tracer instead of short lived Ce-134.
Ce-139 is produced in the Isotope Production Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory through proton bombardment of a lanthanum target. The specific activity is >25 Ci/g with a radionuclidic purity of >99.9%.
Cerium-139 can be ordered in mCi quantities as Cerium (III) in 0.5 N HCl.
Cadmium-109
The DOE Isotope Program has ramped up production of high specific activity cadmium-109 (Cd-109) to address a recent surge in demand as end users seek to diversify their supply chains.
Most commonly used as a source for X-ray fluorescence imaging and in environmental research, Cd-109 (half-life of 461.4 days to silver-109) is produced at the Isotope Production Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory through proton bombardment of an indium target. The specific activity is expected to be >50 Ci/g. It also possesses a radionuclidic purity of >99% (excluding Cd-113m and Cd-115m).
Cadmium-109 can be ordered in mCi quantities as cadmium (II) in 0.1 N HCl.
Astatine-211
Astatine-211 (At-211) is a radioisotope of interest for use in targeted alpha therapy. This short-lived alpha-emitting radionuclide (t1/2 = 7.214 hours) has demonstrated significant potential in the treatment of blood, ovarian, and certain types of brain cancers.
The success of At-211 as a cancer therapeutic relies on regional production and distribution of the isotope due to its relatively short half-life. Thus, the DOE IP is working to establish a nationwide At-211 network, and two of its University Isotope Network partners – the University of Washington and Texas A&M University – now serve as its initial hubs.
Both of these university sites produce radiochemical grade At-211 via the 209Bi(a, 2n)211At reaction where natural bismuth metal targets are bombarded with alpha particles. The resulting product, available upon customer request, is a sodium astatide in NaCl solution with a radioisotopic purity of >99.5% from the University of Washington or adsorbed onto 3-octanone impregnated column with a radioisotopic purity of >99% from Texas A&M University.
Barium-133
Barium-133 (Ba-133) is used for various purposes, including as an x-ray radiocontrast agent and as a gamma source in multiphase flow meters used in the oil and gas industry.
Millicurie quantities of Ba-133 are now available for purchase. Barium-133 is produced at Oak Ridge National Laboratory through neutron capture on enriched barium-132 using the High Flux Isotope Reactor.
Manganese-52g
Manganese-52g (Mn-52g) is an isotope of interest as a long-lived positron emitter for investigating the biodistribution of intact antibodies or nanoparticles, and as a potential PET analog for the development of dual labeled PET/MRI agents.
This isotope is produced at the University of Alabama Birmingham and by the University of Wisconsin Cyclotron Research Group, both members of the University Isotope Network.
