Californium is element 98, discovered in 1950 at UC Berkeley. It is an actinoid and a strong neutron emitter, with uses in cancer treatment, nuclear reactors, power plants, oil exploration, metal detection, and more. It has a few compounds and 20 isotopes, but has not been reduced to a metallic state.
Californium is the element with atomic number 98 and atomic symbol Cfr. It was named for California and the University of California at Berkeley, where it was discovered in 1950 by a team of researchers including Albert Ghiorso, Glenn T. Seaborg, Kenneth Street, Jr. and Stanley G. Thompson using the Berkeley cyclotron. Its atomic weight is 251. It has a whitish, silvery color and is classified as an actinoid.
After the first group of naturally occurring actinoids was discovered in the period 1789 to 1917, a second group was discovered synthetically between 1940 and 1961. This group is referred to as the transuranic actinoids, and californium was the sixth transuranic actinoid to be discovered. Although californium was initially produced by bombarding curium with helium ions, it is now usually produced by the beta decay of berkelium.
Some of the uses of californium focus on its property of being a very strong neutron emitter, for example in its isotope californium-252. A single microgram emits 170 million neutrons per minute. Besides allowing for some interesting applications, this fact also means that californium must be handled with extreme caution.
Uses for californium include the following:
• medical cancer treatments, including backup radiotherapy for several types of cancer, including brain and cervical cancer
• neutron startup of the nuclear reactor
• optimization of coal-fired power plants
• a role in cement production
• a role in oil exploration where it can help detect layers of water and oil, in the process called “well-logging”
• detection of metal fatigue in aircraft
• groundwater movement detection
• analysis of gold and silver in prospecting operations
• metal and explosive detection, the latter in an airport environment
A limited number of californium compounds have been produced, and these include californium oxide, californium oxychloride, californium oxysulfate, and californium trichloride. It is also available as a palladium-californium oxide composite. Twenty isotopes have been distinguished, of which the most used isotopes are CF-249, CF-251 and CF-252. At the turn of the 21st century, californium had not yet been reduced to a metallic state.
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