Editing Promethium (section)

==Production==

The production methods for different isotopes vary, and only those for promethium-147 are given because it is the only isotope with industrial applications. Promethium-147 is produced in large quantities (compared to other isotopes) by bombarding uranium-235 with thermal neutrons. The output is relatively high, at 2.6% of the total product.{{sfn|Lavrukhina|Pozdnyakov|1966|p=115}} Another way to produce promethium-147 is via neodymium-147, which decays to promethium-147 with a short half-life. Neodymium-147 can be obtained either by bombarding enriched neodymium-146 with [[thermal neutron]]s<ref name="Russia" /> or by bombarding a [[uranium carbide]] target with energetic protons in a particle accelerator.<ref>{{cite book|title = Applications of inorganic mass spectrometry|year = 2011|page = 144|publisher = Springer|isbn = 978-3-642-21022-8|last1 = Hänninen|first1 = Pekka|last2 = Härmä|first2 = Harri}}</ref> Another method is to bombard uranium-238 with [[fast neutron]]s to cause [[fast fission]], which, among multiple reaction products, creates promethium-147.<ref name="De2001">{{cite book|title = Applications of inorganic mass spectrometry|isbn=978-0471345398
|year = 2001|author1=De Laeter |author2=J. R. |page = 205|publisher = Wiley-IEEE}}</ref><!--how is the promethium extracted chemically?-->

As early as the 1960s, Oak Ridge National Laboratory could produce 650&nbsp;grams of promethium per year{{sfn|Lavrukhina|Pozdnyakov|1966|p=116}} and was the world's only large-volume synthesis facility.<ref>{{cite book|title = On the Home Front: The Cold War Legacy of the Hanford Nuclear Site|year = 2007|edition = 3rd|publisher = University of Nebraska Press|page = 162|isbn = 978-0-8032-5995-9|last1 = Gerber|first1 = Michele Stenehjem|last2 = Findlay|first2 = John M.}}</ref> Gram-scale production of promethium was discontinued in the U.S. in the early 1980s, but will possibly be resumed after 2010 at the [[High Flux Isotope Reactor]]. {{Update inline|date=December 2020}} In 2010, Russia was the only country producing promethium-147 on a relatively large scale.<ref name="Russia">{{cite book|title = Radioisotope Thin-Film Powered Microsystems|year = 2010|isbn = 978-1441967626|last1 = Duggirala|first1 = Rajesh|last2 = Lal|first2 = Amit|last3 = Radhakrishnan|first3 = Shankar|publisher = Springer|page=12|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AoWbhNoLwnYC&pg=PA12}}</ref>