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Radionuclide Dosimetric Data Sheets
Plutonium-242
Summary data
General
Classification
Isotope: Pu-242
Atomic number (Z): 94
Mass number (A): 242
Neutron number (N): 148
Radioactive decay
Decay modes: α, Spontaneus fission
Half-life: 375000.0 [y]
Decay constant: 5.8573e-14 [1/s]
Daughters: U-238 (100.0%), SF (0.000554%)
Radioactive daughters: U-238
Dosimetric constants
Mean alpha energy: 4.9738 [MeV]
Mean electron energy: 0.00895 [MeV]
Mean photon energy: 0.00173 [MeV]
Air kerma rate constant, Γ10: 2.123e-18 [Gy·m2/Bq·s]
Air kerma coefficient, Kair: 2.131e-18 [Gy·m2/Bq·s]
Equilibrium dose constant for weakly-penetrating radiations (α and/or
electrons), Δwp: 7.983e-13 [Gy·kg/Bq·s]
Equilibrium dose constant for alphas, Δα: 7.969e-13
[Gy·kg/Bq·s]
Equilibrium dose constant for betas/electrons, Δβ-,β+,e-:
1.434e-15 [Gy·kg/Bq·s]
Equilibrium dose constant for photons, Δp: 2.772e-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-242 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-242 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-242 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-242 Summary Spectrum.csv
|
Energy [MeV] |
Yield [#/nt] if > 0.01 |
Radiation type |
|
7.55203e-05 |
2.374e+00 |
X-ray |
|
3.25948e-03 |
1.450e-02 |
X-ray |
|
1.36268e-02 |
3.097e-02 |
X-ray |
|
1.73072e-02 |
3.189e-02 |
X-ray |
|
7.21889e-05 |
6.391e-01 |
Auger electron |
|
1.86266e-04 |
6.261e-01 |
Auger electron |
|
1.92422e-04 |
3.597e-01 |
Auger electron |
|
5.38517e-04 |
9.200e-02 |
Auger electron |
|
1.19188e-03 |
2.239e-02 |
Auger electron |
|
2.44328e-03 |
2.066e-01 |
Auger electron |
|
2.91583e-03 |
3.886e-02 |
Auger electron |
|
1.02606e-02 |
5.203e-02 |
Auger electron |
|
1.35905e-02 |
2.647e-02 |
Auger electron |
|
2.38710e-02 |
8.858e-02 |
Conversion electron |
|
2.77330e-02 |
7.820e-02 |
Conversion electron |
|
4.06254e-02 |
4.695e-02 |
Conversion electron |
|
4.49150e-02 |
1.651e-02 |
Conversion electron |
|
4.85779e+00 |
2.348e-01 |
Alpha |
|
4.90196e+00 |
7.649e-01 |
Alpha |
|
8.16966e-02 |
2.348e-01 |
Alpha recoil |
|
8.24395e-02 |
7.649e-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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