A New Batch of Barium-133 is Available Now!
A limited quantity of barium-133 (Ba-133) is now available through the DOE Isotope Program in millicurie quantities. The DOE IP entered the market for Ba-133 in 2019 and is one of only two global producers. This multipurpose isotope is used for a variety of applications, with important uses in medicine and the oil & gas industry. The characteristics of Ba-133 make it useful as a dose calibration source for medical isotopes such as iodine-131 used in heart and thyroid diagnostics. Off-shore oil and gas platforms utilize Ba-133 sources in multiphase flow meters to monitor and control pipe flow of oil, gas, and water during production. It is also used in quantum computing research.
Barium-133 (half-life of 10.551 years) is produced using the DOE's High Flux Isotope Reactor located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Production requires more than one year of irradiation at the HFIR to achieve a specific activity of greater than 16 curies per gram. Upon completion of the irradiation, the product is transferred to an ORNL hot cell facility for processing and purification. The Ba-133 is purified to a radionuclidic purity of >99.5% and converted to a barium-133 nitrate solution for dispensing.
Barium-133 is produced upon demand or special request in curie quantities. The production lead time for Ba-133 is longer than one year, therefore, we recommend that interested parties submit requests for future orders as soon as possible. For further inquiries about Ba-133, please contact the NIDC at contact@isotopes.gov.
