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Radionuclide Dosimetric Data Sheets
Californium-253
Summary data
General
Classification
Isotope: Cf-253
Atomic number (Z): 98
Mass number (A): 253
Neutron number (N): 155
Radioactive decay
Decay modes: α, β-
Half-life: 17.81 [d]
Decay constant: 4.5045e-07 [1/s]
Daughters: Es-253 (99.7%), Cm-249 (0.31%)
Radioactive daughters: Es-253, Cm-249
Dosimetric constants
Mean alpha energy: 0.0188 [MeV]
Mean electron energy: 0.09076 [MeV]
Mean photon energy: 0.00483 [MeV]
Air kerma rate constant, Γ10: 3.435e-18 [Gy·m2/Bq·s]
Air kerma coefficient, Kair: 3.435e-18 [Gy·m2/Bq·s]
Equilibrium dose constant for weakly-penetrating radiations (α and/or
electrons), Δwp: 1.755e-14 [Gy·kg/Bq·s]
Equilibrium dose constant for alphas, Δα: 3.012e-15
[Gy·kg/Bq·s]
Equilibrium dose constant for betas/electrons, Δβ-,β+,e-:
1.454e-14 [Gy·kg/Bq·s]
Equilibrium dose constant for photons, Δp: 7.739e-16
[Gy·kg/Bq·s]
Dose point kernels (plot)
Dose point kernel source: Graves, et al. Medical Physics. 2019 Nov.; 46(11):5284-5293.
Note: Bins are spaced every 0.1 mm until a radius of 10 cm, and every 1 mm until a radius of 2 m.
Download tabulated dose point kernel file here: www.mirdsoft.org/products/MIRDspecs/Cf-253 DPK.csv
Summary spectra (plot)
Spectra source: ICRP Publication 107: Nuclear Decay Data for Dosimetric Calculations. Ann. ICRP 2008, 38 (3).
Download tabulated summary spectra file here: www.mirdsoft.org/products/MIRDspecs/Cf-253 Summary Spectrum.csv
Beta spectra (plot)
Spectra source: ICRP Publication 107: Nuclear Decay Data for Dosimetric Calculations. Ann. ICRP 2008, 38 (3).
Download tabulated beta spectra file here: www.mirdsoft.org/products/MIRDspecs/Cf-253 Beta Spectrum.csv
Tabulated data
Summary spectra (table)
Spectra source: ICRP Publication 107: Nuclear Decay Data for Dosimetric Calculations. Ann. ICRP 2008, 38 (3).
Note: Radiations with yield < 0.01 are excluded from the table, but are available in the linked *.csv data.
Download tabulated summary spectra file here: www.mirdsoft.org/products/MIRDspecs/Cf-253 Summary Spectrum.csv
|
Energy [MeV] |
Yield [#/nt] if > 0.01 |
Radiation type |
|
7.54578e-05 |
5.982e+00 |
X-ray |
|
7.75627e-05 |
6.935e-02 |
X-ray |
|
3.96705e-03 |
4.465e-02 |
X-ray |
|
1.60394e-02 |
7.313e-02 |
X-ray |
|
1.94489e-02 |
1.607e-02 |
X-ray |
|
2.02594e-02 |
2.539e-02 |
X-ray |
|
2.13815e-02 |
2.071e-02 |
X-ray |
|
2.15768e-02 |
1.779e-02 |
X-ray |
|
6.55092e-02 |
4.985e-01 |
Beta |
|
7.91489e-02 |
4.985e-01 |
Beta |
|
9.70088e-05 |
1.981e-02 |
Auger electron |
|
1.20836e-04 |
1.610e+00 |
Auger electron |
|
1.93615e-04 |
1.022e-02 |
Auger electron |
|
1.93723e-04 |
9.605e-01 |
Auger electron |
|
2.80555e-04 |
1.821e-02 |
Auger electron |
|
3.66309e-04 |
1.587e+00 |
Auger electron |
|
7.26851e-04 |
3.226e-01 |
Auger electron |
|
2.64718e-03 |
2.221e-01 |
Auger electron |
|
2.85456e-03 |
4.849e-01 |
Auger electron |
|
3.55449e-03 |
1.214e-01 |
Auger electron |
|
1.22888e-02 |
1.023e-01 |
Auger electron |
|
1.64544e-02 |
5.554e-02 |
Auger electron |
|
1.95760e-02 |
3.292e-01 |
Conversion electron |
|
2.03930e-02 |
3.731e-02 |
Conversion electron |
|
4.11528e-02 |
9.122e-02 |
Conversion electron |
|
4.64000e-02 |
3.429e-02 |
Conversion electron |
Useful Links
Isotope decay characteristics are periodically updated as better measurements can be made - changes that may not be reflected on this page. Please see useful links:
National Nuclear Data Center (NNDC): https://www.nndc.bnl.gov/nudat3/mird/
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Livechart: https://www-nds.iaea.org/relnsd/vcharthtml/VChartHTML.html
Reference Links
ICRP Report 107: https://www.icrp.org/publication.asp?id=ICRP%20Publication%20107
Graves et al. Dose Point Kernels: https://doi.org/10.1002/mp.13789
MIRD Decay Schemes 2nd Edition: https://sites.snmmi.org/SNMMI-MAIN/iCore/Store/StoreLayouts/Item_Detail.aspx?iProductCode=0-932004-80-6
MIRDsoft MIRDspecs version 20250101 (www.mirdsoft.org)
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