

Prototype irradiator for food irradiation to prevent spoilage, 1984. This amounts to nearly 20 watts per gram, nearly 30 times larger than that of 238 The high γ-energies result in a significant mass difference between 60 Devices for nondestructive material testing use sources with activities of 1 TBq and more. Test sources, such as those used for school experiments, have an activity of <100 kBq.

Reduces the distance to a few millimeters, and the same dose is achieved within seconds. , generates a dose of 1 mSv at one meter distance within one hour. Source with an activity of 2.8 GBq, which is equivalent to 60 μg of pure 60 This allows calculation of the equivalent dose, which depends on distance and activity.

It is equal to 0.35 mSv/(GBq h) at one meter from the source. The absorbed dose constant is related to the decay energy and time. The activated nickel nucleus emits two gamma rays with energies of 1.17 and 1.33 MeV, hence the overall equation of the nuclear reaction (activation and decay) is:Ĭorresponding to its half-life, the radioactive activity of one gram of 60 Undergoes beta decay to the stable isotope nickel-60 ( 60 The simplest case of the latter would result from the activation of 58 Is largely the result of multiple stages of neutron activation of iron isotopes in the reactor's steel structures via the creation of its 59 In the latter case (in the absence of added cobalt) the incidentally produced 60 Measurable quantities are also produced as a by-product of typical nuclear power plant operation and may be detected externally when leaks occur. Deliberate industrial production depends on neutron activation of bulk samples of the monoisotopic and mononuclidic cobalt isotope 59 : 39 It is produced artificially in nuclear reactors. Cobalt-60 ( 60Co) is a synthetic radioactive isotope of cobalt with a half-life of 5.2713 years.
