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Radionuclide Dosimetric Data Sheets
Cobalt-56
Summary data
General
Classification
Isotope: Co-56
Atomic number (Z): 27
Mass number (A): 56
Neutron number (N): 29
Radioactive decay
Decay modes: β+, Electron capture
Half-life: 77.23 [d]
Decay constant: 1.0388e-07 [1/s]
Daughters: Fe-56 (100.0%)
Radioactive daughters: None
Dosimetric constants
Mean alpha energy: 0.0 [MeV]
Mean electron energy: 0.11983 [MeV]
Mean photon energy: 3.64039 [MeV]
Air kerma rate constant, Γ10: 1.108e-16 [Gy·m2/Bq·s]
Air kerma coefficient, Kair: 1.181e-16 [Gy·m2/Bq·s]
Equilibrium dose constant for weakly-penetrating radiations (α and/or
electrons), Δwp: 1.920e-14 [Gy·kg/Bq·s]
Equilibrium dose constant for alphas, Δα: 0.000e+00
[Gy·kg/Bq·s]
Equilibrium dose constant for betas/electrons, Δβ-,β+,e-:
1.920e-14 [Gy·kg/Bq·s]
Equilibrium dose constant for photons, Δp: 5.833e-13
[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/Co-56 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/Co-56 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/Co-56 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/Co-56 Summary Spectrum.csv
|
Energy [MeV] |
Yield [#/nt] if > 0.01 |
Radiation type |
|
1.25307e-05 |
4.641e+00 |
X-ray |
|
6.34985e-03 |
7.283e-02 |
X-ray |
|
6.36272e-03 |
1.427e-01 |
X-ray |
|
7.01694e-03 |
1.724e-02 |
X-ray |
|
5.11000e-01 |
3.805e-01 |
Annihilation photon |
|
8.46771e-01 |
9.993e-01 |
Gamma |
|
9.77373e-01 |
1.449e-02 |
Gamma |
|
1.03784e+00 |
1.417e-01 |
Gamma |
|
1.17510e+00 |
2.288e-02 |
Gamma |
|
1.23828e+00 |
6.690e-01 |
Gamma |
|
1.36022e+00 |
4.290e-02 |
Gamma |
|
1.77135e+00 |
1.547e-01 |
Gamma |
|
2.01518e+00 |
3.040e-02 |
Gamma |
|
2.03475e+00 |
7.890e-02 |
Gamma |
|
2.59846e+00 |
1.730e-01 |
Gamma |
|
3.00960e+00 |
1.160e-02 |
Gamma |
|
3.20196e+00 |
3.320e-02 |
Gamma |
|
3.25342e+00 |
8.120e-02 |
Gamma |
|
3.27299e+00 |
1.930e-02 |
Gamma |
|
6.31015e-01 |
1.810e-01 |
Positron |
|
4.00261e-05 |
1.997e+00 |
Auger electron |
|
6.97184e-05 |
2.201e-01 |
Auger electron |
|
6.26760e-04 |
1.122e+00 |
Auger electron |
|
6.74044e-04 |
1.517e-02 |
Auger electron |
|
5.58186e-03 |
3.784e-01 |
Auger electron |
|
6.25798e-03 |
9.259e-02 |
Auger 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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