MEDICAL - Production

Production:
An outline on how Strontium-90 is created.

Strontium was first detected as non-reactive in the mineral strontianite in Scotland. Radioactive Strontium-90 (Sr-90) was discovered in the 1940’s in a nuclear experiment linked to the atomic bomb. Large amounts were produced during atmospheric nuclear weapons test in the 1950’s and 60’s and was dispersed worldwide. Sr-90 is produced as a by-product of the fission of Uranium in nuclear reactors and in nuclear weapons.

²³⁵₉₂ U ---(fission)---> ⁹⁰₃₆ --> ⁰_-1 e^- + ⁹⁰₃₇ Rb --> ⁰_-1 e^-  + ⁹⁰₃₈ Sr