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Radionuclide Dosimetric Data Sheets
Plutonium-238
Summary data
General
Classification
Isotope: Pu-238
Atomic number (Z): 94
Mass number (A): 238
Neutron number (N): 144
Radioactive decay
Decay modes: α, Spontaneus fission
Half-life: 87.7 [y]
Decay constant: 2.5046e-10 [1/s]
Daughters: U-234 (100.0%), SF (1.85e-07%)
Radioactive daughters: U-234
Dosimetric constants
Mean alpha energy: 5.5802 [MeV]
Mean electron energy: 0.01068 [MeV]
Mean photon energy: 0.00205 [MeV]
Air kerma rate constant, Γ10: 2.636e-18 [Gy·m2/Bq·s]
Air kerma coefficient, Kair: 2.636e-18 [Gy·m2/Bq·s]
Equilibrium dose constant for weakly-penetrating radiations (α and/or
electrons), Δwp: 8.958e-13 [Gy·kg/Bq·s]
Equilibrium dose constant for alphas, Δα: 8.940e-13
[Gy·kg/Bq·s]
Equilibrium dose constant for betas/electrons, Δβ-,β+,e-:
1.711e-15 [Gy·kg/Bq·s]
Equilibrium dose constant for photons, Δp: 3.284e-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/Pu-238 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/Pu-238 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/Pu-238 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/Pu-238 Summary Spectrum.csv
|
Energy [MeV] |
Yield [#/nt] if > 0.01 |
Radiation type |
|
7.55198e-05 |
2.945e+00 |
X-ray |
|
3.25936e-03 |
1.799e-02 |
X-ray |
|
1.36268e-02 |
3.852e-02 |
X-ray |
|
1.73072e-02 |
3.945e-02 |
X-ray |
|
7.21897e-05 |
7.928e-01 |
Auger electron |
|
1.86243e-04 |
7.768e-01 |
Auger electron |
|
1.92411e-04 |
4.462e-01 |
Auger electron |
|
5.38169e-04 |
1.141e-01 |
Auger electron |
|
1.19174e-03 |
2.768e-02 |
Auger electron |
|
2.44314e-03 |
2.563e-01 |
Auger electron |
|
2.91564e-03 |
4.821e-02 |
Auger electron |
|
1.02564e-02 |
6.460e-02 |
Auger electron |
|
1.35860e-02 |
3.286e-02 |
Auger electron |
|
2.24540e-02 |
1.093e-01 |
Conversion electron |
|
2.63160e-02 |
9.726e-02 |
Conversion electron |
|
3.92084e-02 |
5.809e-02 |
Conversion electron |
|
4.34980e-02 |
2.043e-02 |
Conversion electron |
|
5.45620e+00 |
2.898e-01 |
Alpha |
|
5.49897e+00 |
7.091e-01 |
Alpha |
|
9.33291e-02 |
2.898e-01 |
Alpha recoil |
|
9.40606e-02 |
7.091e-01 |
Alpha recoil |
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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