Is cobalt-60 naturally occurring?
The US Environmental Protection Agency describes cobalt-60 as the “most common radioactive isotope” of the element cobalt, which occurs naturally in various minerals. Cobalt-60 is produced for commercial purposes, and is also a byproduct of nuclear reactors.
How cobalt-60 is used in the treatment of cancer?
Cobalt therapy is the medical use of gamma rays from the radioisotope cobalt-60 to treat conditions such as cancer. Beginning in the 1950s, cobalt-60 was widely used in external beam radiotherapy (teletherapy) machines, which produced a beam of gamma rays which was directed into the patient’s body to kill tumor tissue.
What is the energy of cobalt-60?
3.3. Cobalt-60 (60Co) and caesium-137 (137Cs) are the most widely used sources of gamma radiation. Co produces gamma rays with energies of 1.173 and 1.332 MeV and has a half-life of 5.27 years, whereas 137Cs produces gamma rays with an energy of 0.662 MeV and has a longer half-life of 30.1 years.
Why is Cobalt 60 no longer used?
Since cobalt-60 has a short half-life, there is no significant presence of the isotope in the general environment at this time. Exposures have occurred as a result of improper disposal of medical radiation sources and the accidental melting of cobalt-60 sources by metal recycling facilities.
Is Cobalt still used to treat cancer?
Due to its cost effectiveness, reliability and ease of use, it is prevalent in developing countries. Cobalt-60 technology is currently used to treat roughly 70 per cent of the world’s cancer cases treated by radiation. LHSC’s last Cobalt treatment was delivered in 2004.
Is Cobalt 60 still used?
Cobalt-60 is widely used as a medical and industrial source of radiation. Medical use consists primarily of cancer radiotherapy. Industrial uses include testing welds and castings and a large variety of measurement and test instruments, such as leveling devices and thickness gauges.
What is the half life of co 60 gamma spectrum?
Co60 Gamma spectrum. Co60 is a common calibration source found in many laboratories, it is synthetically produced by neutron activation of Co59, and has a half life of 5.27 years. The gamma spectrum has two significant peaks, one at 1173.2 KeV and another at 1332.5 KeV.
What are the properties of 60 co radiation?
The decay of a 60 Co nucleus releases one electron with 317.9 keV energy and two gamma quanta with energies of 1.173 MeV and 1.332 MeV. The 60 Co radiation sources used in the irradiation facility usually consist of activated discs or small pellets of metallic cobalt welded into cylindrical stainless steel containers.
What is the half life of Cobalt 60?
Co60 Gamma spectrum Cobalt 60 Co60 is a common calibration source found in many laboratories, it is synthetically produced by neutron activation of Co59, and has a half life of 5.27 years. The gamma spectrum has two significant peaks, one at 1173.2 KeV and another at 1332.5 KeV.
What causes Cobalt 60 to emit gamma rays?
The excited states of nickel 60 are reached when cobalt 60, an isotope widely used in medicine, undergoes beta decay. On the nucleus’s path to the ground state, it emits a number of gamma rays to expend the extra energy it possesses. The diagram above shows the energy and the frequency of these gamma.