Nearly 80 years after scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory discovered an extremely rare radioactive element called promethium, a team at the lab has published a landmark study on the topic that ORNL said could “rewrite the chemistry textbooks.”
The research, published in Nature on May 22, is the first time scientists have revealed key properties of the element, although the study could have implications far beyond promethium (No. 61 on the periodic table).
One of the research’s most critical discoveries is the bond length between promethium and surrounding atoms, a previously unknown measurement that reveals some of the element’s properties.
Only about one pound of promethium exists on Earth at any given time. Promethium is used mostly for research, but also in nuclear batteries used for pacemakers and space exploration.
The new research could help scientists expand these applications and potentially make new discoveries for an element that is still relatively unexplored.
ORNL is the only producer of promethium-147 in the US. Its unique capabilities come from the High Isotope Flux Reactor, one of the most powerful nuclear research reactors in the world. The reactor bombards materials with a concentrated beam of neutrons, creating unique materials.
These materials include plutonium-238, produced for generators on NASA space missions. There is also californium-252, used to start nuclear reactors.
