Isotopes of ruthenium

Isotopes of ruthenium (44Ru)
Main isotopes[1] Decay
abun­dance half-life (t1/2) mode pro­duct
96Ru 5.54% stable
97Ru synth 2.9 d ε 97Tc
γ –
98Ru 1.87% stable
99Ru 12.8% stable
100Ru 12.6% stable
101Ru 17.1% stable
102Ru 31.6% stable
103Ru synth 39.26 d β− 103Rh
γ –
104Ru 18.6% stable
106Ru synth 373.59 d β− 106Rh
Standard atomic weight Ar°(Ru)

Naturally occurring ruthenium (44Ru) is composed of seven stable isotopes (of which two may in the future be found radioactive). Additionally, 27 radioactive isotopes have been discovered. Of these radioisotopes, the most stable are 106Ru, with a half-life of 373.59 days; 103Ru, with a half-life of 39.26 days and 97Ru, with a half-life of 2.9 days.

Twenty-four other radioisotopes have been characterized with atomic weights ranging from 86.95 u (87Ru) to 119.95 u (120Ru). Most of these have half-lives that are less than five minutes, except 94Ru (half-life: 51.8 minutes), 95Ru (half-life: 1.643 hours), and 105Ru (half-life: 4.44 hours).

The primary decay mode before the most abundant isotope, 102Ru, is electron capture and the primary mode after is beta emission. The primary decay product before 102Ru is technetium and the primary product after is rhodium.

Because of the very high volatility of ruthenium tetroxide (RuO
4) ruthenium radioactive isotopes with their relative short half-life are considered as the second most hazardous gaseous isotopes after iodine-131 in case of release by a nuclear accident.[4][5][6] The two most important isotopes of ruthenium in case of nuclear accident are these with the longest half-life: 103Ru (39.26 days) and 106Ru (373.59 days).[5]

  1. ^ Kondev, F. G.; Wang, M.; Huang, W. J.; Naimi, S.; Audi, G. (2021). "The NUBASE2020 evaluation of nuclear properties" (PDF). Chinese Physics C. 45 (3): 030001. doi:10.1088/1674-1137/abddae.
  2. ^ "Standard Atomic Weights: Ruthenium". CIAAW. 1983.
  3. ^ Prohaska, Thomas; Irrgeher, Johanna; Benefield, Jacqueline; Böhlke, John K.; Chesson, Lesley A.; Coplen, Tyler B.; Ding, Tiping; Dunn, Philip J. H.; Gröning, Manfred; Holden, Norman E.; Meijer, Harro A. J. (2022-05-04). "Standard atomic weights of the elements 2021 (IUPAC Technical Report)". Pure and Applied Chemistry. doi:10.1515/pac-2019-0603. ISSN 1365-3075.
  4. ^ Ronneau, C., Cara, J., & Rimski-Korsakov, A. (1995). Oxidation-enhanced emission of ruthenium from nuclear fuel. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 26(1), 63-70.
  5. ^ a b Backman, U., Lipponen, M., Auvinen, A., Jokiniemi, J., & Zilliacus, R. (2004). Ruthenium behaviour in severe nuclear accident conditions. Final report (No. NKS–100). Nordisk Kernesikkerhedsforskning.
  6. ^ Beuzet, E., Lamy, J. S., Perron, H., Simoni, E., & Ducros, G. (2012). Ruthenium release modelling in air and steam atmospheres under severe accident conditions using the MAAP4 code[dead link‍]. Nuclear Engineering and Design, 246, 157-162.