TAM] 3
Principal Fission Produete
a.

Half-life

- Nuclide

Fission yield from

fission of “35U by
thermal neutrons

Strontium-89
Strontium-90

50.4 days |
28 years

Yttriu-91

58.0 days

- Zirconium-95

63.3 days

Ruthenium-103 °°,

41.0 days

Tellurium-129m

33.0 days

-

Promethium-147

6.3

Niobium-95

35 days

0.4

Rhodium-106

30 seconiis

Bériun-137m

2.6 minutes

6.0

6.0
5.7

2.4

2.52 years

of daughter

-64.4 hours

0.9
OS

32.5 days
290 days

product

Half-life

-Yttrium-90

3.0

30 years

Cesium-137

Cerium-141
Cerium-1h4

|

daughter

4.8
5.8

5.8

~~}

1.0 years

Ruthenium-106
;

%

Radioactive

ae nee rege ES| Ee

--

Rhodium-103m

--

54 minuten

Tellurium-129 74 minutes
1.6 x 10
Todine-129
years

--Praseodymium144 17.5 minutes

Neodymium-144.-2.5 x 101?

Samarium-147 1.3°x 1011
. years

The two major radionuclides with half-lives greater than a year are
strontium~-90 and cesium-137.

Both are soluble in sea water, and tend to remain

in the water, rather than sink to the bottom.

they would sink slowly until dissolved.

Introduced as fallout particles,

Measurements show that most of the

strontium-90 and cesium-137 that has fallen on the oceans still resides above
»

1.

Burton, J. D. "Radioactive Nuclides," Chapter 22,

In Chemical Oceanography,

Vol. 2, Edited by Riley and Skirrow, Academic Press, N.Y. 1965.

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