The radiochemical manual

Many readers are aware of, or indeed are still using, the publication on which this book is modelled - The Radiochemical Manual, 2nd edition, published by The Radiochemical Centre, Amersham in 1966. Much of the Amersham manual was concerned with the production of radiotracers, the manufacture and design of radiation sources, and the synthesis and properties of radiolabelled compounds. Other topics such as the measurement of radionuclides, instrument calibration, and the safety and use of radioactive materials were also given useful coverage. The Table of Physical Data used nuclear data which were close to the best available at that time. Nuclear data were provided for approximately 360 different radionuclides. The objective for AEA Technology was to build on the Amersham document by updating the information which was outdated, expanding into other areas and disciplines where radioactivity and radioisotopes were used routinely, and constructing a well-organised, well-referenced Manual. A key feature of the Manual is the Nuclear Data Table. The requirement for accurate nuclear data is shared by virtually all scientific disciplines where radioactivity is used; a recommended set of reasonably comprehensive decay data was found to be the most frequent requirement in the initial survey of potential users of the Manual. An extensive amount of checking was carried out on the nuclear data presented here, covering nearly 300 radionuclides