Isotopes of californium Isotopes of californium Californium (Cf) is an artificial element, and thus a standard atomic weight cannot be given. Like all artificial elements, it has no stable isotopes. The first isotope to be synthesized was Cf in 1950. There are 20 known radioisotopes ranging from Cf to Cf and one nuclear isomer, Cf. The longest-lived isotope is Cf with a half-life of 900 years. Californium-252 (Cf-252) undergoes spontaneous fission and is used in small sized neutron sources. Fission neutrons have an energy range of 0 to 13 MeV with a mean value of 2.3 MeV and a most probable value of
Californium River Plant. It is also used with online elemental coal analyzers and bulk material analyzers in the coal and cement industries. Neutron penetration into materials makes californium useful in detection instruments such as fuel rod scanners; neutron radiography of aircraft and weapons components to detect corrosion, bad welds, cracks and trapped moisture; and in portable metal detectors. Neutron moisture gauges use californium-252 to find water and petroleum layers in oil wells, as a portable neutron source for gold and silver prospecting for on-the-spot analysis, and to detect ground water movement. The major uses of californium-252 in 1982 were, in order