Caesium-137

In News

• Recently an eight-millimetre capsule has been recovered in Western Australia which was lost earlier. 
  • It contained radioactive Caesium-137 which was released during the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear disasters.

About Caesium

• Caesium is a soft, flexible, silvery-white metal that can easily form bonds with chlorides to create a crystalline powder.
• There is only one stable form of cesium naturally present in the environment, 133Cs (read as cesium one-thirty-three).
• Nuclear explosions or the breakdown of uranium in fuel elements can produce two radioactive forms of cesium, 134Cs and 137Cs. Both isotopes decay into non-radioactive elements. 
• Caesium-137 is the most common radioactive form of caesium which produces beta and gamma radiation, both of which are harmful to humans.

Health and Environment Concers

• Health
  • Caesium-137 can cause serious illness when touched, leading to burns and acute radiation sickness.
  • External exposure of Caesium-137 can increase the risk of cancer because of the presence of high-energy gamma radiation. Prolonged exposure can even cause death.
  • Internal exposure to it through ingestion or inhalation allows the radioactive material to be distributed in the soft tissues, especially muscle tissue.
• Environment
  • Cesium in air can travel long distances before settling to the ground or water. Most cesium compounds dissolve in water.
  • Cesium binds strongly to moist soils and does not travel far below the surface of the soil, most cesium compounds are very soluble.

Source: IE