Science & Technology

Application of Radioisotopes

By Prahallad Kumar
 Applications of radio isotopes / radioactivity

agriculture science
and food industry water
resources
health and
medical
 (1) Agriculture and Food :-
(A) in the development of improved varieties which can withstand
high temperature

● Will be disease resistant and weather resistant

● BARC has developed two improved varieties of groundnut

TG – 37A
TPG – 41
(B) Trombay Sisbania Rorestro has been manufactured by BARC
which has high nitrogenization capacity

(c) The use of radioisotopes (P32, N15) in tracer technology is used

to study the level, movement, and effect of nutrients in plants
(D) Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), the number of male insects is
controlled by using ionizing radiation

(E) E) Micro-organisms are destroyed by gentle exposure to

gamma rays in the circulation of food and agricultural products

• This center has been established by BARC in Nashik, whose

name is KRUSHAK
(2) Industry :-

(A) Advanced oxidation processes for treatment of dye

wastewater
(B) Development of water purifier for Arsenic removal
(C) Detection of leaks in oil and gas pipelines using radioisotopes in
tracer technology
(D) Radiation processed polymer-composite based chemiresistive
sensor
Radiation processed polymer-composite based piezoresistive
sensor
(E) Gamma scan is used in the testing of industrial equipment
(F) Radioactivity has been used in cross linking stimulation in
polymers

Preparation of
multifunctional
poly(acrylic acid)-
poly(ethylene oxide)
nanogels from their
interpolymer complexes by
radiation-induced
intramolecular crosslinking
(3) Health and Medicine :-
(A) Radioimmunoassay
(B) Radio Immunometric assay
❖A radioimmunoassay (RIA) is an immunoassay that uses
radiolabeled molecules in a stepwise formation of immune
complexes. It is used in measuring antigen concentrations (for
example, hormone levels in blood) by use of antibodies.
(C) Co-60 (Cobalt-60)
in cancer treatment
(D) Iodine(I) - 125
in brachytherapy {in cancer}
Board of Radiation and Isotope Techology (BRIT) supplies
Brachytherapy sources like Iridium-192 and Cesium-137 for
cancer treatment.
(E) Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT),
Indore, has developed electron accelerator based teletherapy
machine. In this machine, a microtron (a type of electron
accelerator) accelerates electrons to an energy, which depending
on the depth of the tumor varies from 6MeV to 12 MeV
(F) Sodium-24
It is used to check blood circulation
(G) Iodine - 131
thyroid gland examination

(H) In radiotherapy
In the treatment of cancer (gamma rays)
(4) Water Resources :-
(A) locating underground water sources

(B) In finding the route of ancient rivers (Saraswati river)

(C) in the desalination and purification of water

plant :- Satlana (Jodhpur)

Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu)
(5) Science
(A) To find out the age of fossils

Carbon Dating (14C)

B) Isotopes of lead are used to determine the age of the earth

(C) locating the sources of geothermal energy

(D) Radioisotopes (tracer technology) is used in the study of

water and air pollution