Production of Materials > 5. Nuclear Methods >
Describe how commercial radioisotopes are produced
- Commercial radioisotopes: Radioisotopes that are used in medicine, industry and/or scientific research.
- Commercial radioisotopes are produced in two main ways:
- Using neutrons produced in a nuclear fission reactor, such as the production of cobalt-60 (used in medicine) from cobalt-59:
- Using particle accelerators to fire protons, deuterium atoms (deuterons) or Alpha particles at a target element, such as the production of iodine-123 by the bombardment of xenon atoms with protons:
