About the Wallet Cards

Introduction

This is an updated edition of the 2005 booklet of the same name†. The 2000 edition has beeen archived for the US DOE nuclear material inventory control.

This booklet presents selected properties of all known nuclides and their isomeric states. Properties of ionized atoms are presented as an appendix.

The data given here are taken mostly from the adopted properties of the various nuclides as given in the Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File (ENSDF) [1]. The data in ENSDF are based on experimental results and are published in Nuclear Data Sheets [2] for A > 20 and in Nuclear Physics [3] for A ≤ 20. For nuclides for which either there are no data in ENSDF or for data that have since been superseded, half-lives and decay modes are taken from entries in the Experimental Unevaluated Nuclear Data List (XUNDL [4]) covering recent literature [5]. For other references, experimental data, and information on the data measurements, please refer to the original evaluations [1 - 4]. The data were last updated on September 1, 2011.

Explanation of Table

Column 1, Nuclide (Z, El, A):

Nuclides are listed in order of increasing atomic number (Z), and are subordered by increasing mass number (A). All isotopic species, as well as all isomers with half-life ≥ 0.1 s, and some with half-life ≥ 1 ms which decay by SF, α or p emissions, are included. A nuclide is given even if only its mass estimate [6] is known.

Isomeric states are denoted by the symbol "m" after the mass number and are given in the order of increasing excitation energy. Where the ground state is not well established all given states carry symbol "m".

The 235U thermal fission products, with fractional cumulative yields ≥ 10-6, are italicized in the table. The information on fission products is taken from the ENDF/B-VI fission products file [8].

The names and symbols for elements are those adopted by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (2010). No names and symbols have as yet been adopted for Z > 112.

Column 2, Jπ:

Spin and parity assignments, without and with parentheses, are based upon strong and weak arguments, respectively. See the introductory pages of any issue of Nuclear Data Sheets [2] for description of strong and weak arguments for Jπ assignments.

Column 3, Mass Excess, Δ:

Mass excesses, M-A, are given in MeV (from [6]) with Δ(+12C) = 0, by definition. For isomers the values are obtained by adding the excitation energy to the Δ(g.s.) values. Wherever the excitation energy is not known, the mass excess for the next lower isomer (or the g.s.) is given. The values are given to the accuracy determined by uncertainty in Δ(g.s.) (maximum of three figures after the decimal). The uncertainty is ≤ 9 in the last significant figure. An appended "s" denotes that the value is obtained from systematics [6].

Column 4, T1/2, Γ, or Abundance:

The half-life and the abundance (in bold face from [7]) are shown followed by their units ("%" for abundances), which are followed by the uncertainty, in italics, in the last significant figures. For example, 8.1 s 10 means 8.1 ± 1.0 s. For some very short-lived nuclei, level widths rather than half-lives are given. In these cases, the width is followed by units (e.g., eV, keV, or MeV) which are followed by the uncertainty in italics, if known. This field is left blank when the half-life is not known.

For 2β- and 2ε decay only the lowest value of their several limits (e.g., for 0ν or 2ν, etc.) is given.

If a new half-life or decay mode measurement has since become available [4], it is presented in place of the evaluated value in ENSDF.

Column 5, Decay Mode:

Decay modes are given in decreasing strength from left to right, followed by the percentage branching, if known ("w" indicates a weak branch). The percentage branching is omitted where there is no competing mode of decay or no other mode has been observed. A "?" indicates an expected but not observed mode of decay [5].

The various modes of decay are given below:

β- β- decay
ε ε (electron capture), or ε+β+, or β+ decay
IT isomeric transition (through γ or conversion-electron decay)
n, p, α, ... neutron, proton, alpha, ... decay
SF spontaneous fission
2β-, 3α, ... double β- decay (β-β--), decay through emission of 3 α's, ...
β-n, β-p, β-α, ... delayed n, p, α, ... (emission following β- decay)
εp, εα, εSF, ... delayed p, α, SF, ... (emission following ε or β+ decay)

NNDC Web Services

The centerfold presents the home page of the NNDC website (www.nndc.bnl.gov), and was prepared by Boris Pritychenko. The greatly expanded NNDC web services offer a wealth of nuclear physics information which includes analysis programs, reference data, and custom-tailored retrievals from its many databases. The ND2013 info is provided by Alejandro Sonzogni.

DOE Standard for Nuclear Material Inventory

The sixth edition (2000) of the Nuclear Wallet Cards was adopted as the standard by the US Department of Energy for the purposes of their nuclear material inventory. The sixth edition, as well as the current edition, are available through the NNDC web site.

Homeland Security

Nuclear Wallet Cards for Radioactive Nuclides, a reference for homeland security personnel based on this booklet was published in March 2004. The booklet, although limited to radioactive nuclides, contains additional radiation information. It is available only on the web and its printed form is no longer available.

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful for help from Eddie Browne, Tim Johnson, John Kelley, Filip Kondev, Elizabeth McCutchan, and Balraj Singh in checking parts of the table. Thanks to NNDC colleagues, especially, Michal Herman, Head, NNDC for their support.

The research was supported by the Office of Nuclear Physics, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy.

References

  1. Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File - a computer file of evaluated experimental nuclear structure data maintained by the National Nuclear Data Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory (file as of August 15, 2011).
  2. Nuclear Data Sheets - Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam. Evaluations published by mass number for A = 21 to 294. See page ii of any issue for the index to A-chains. See page ii of any issue for the index to A-chains.
  3. Nuclear Physics - North Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam - Evaluations for A = 3 to 20.
  4. XUNDL, An experimental Unevaluated Nuclear Data List, mostly prepared under supervision of Dr. Balraj Singh, McMaster U., Canada, and maintained by the National Nuclear Data Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory.
  5. Nuclear Science Reference File a bibliographic computer file of nuclear science references continually updated and maintained by the National Nuclear Data Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory.
  6. Mid-term Atomic Mass Evaluation, private communication from G. Audi, W. Meng (2011).
  7. "Isotopic composition of the elements 2009, Michael Berglund, Michael E. Wiser, Pure Appl. Chem. 83, 397 (2011).
  8. Evaluation and Compilation of Fission Product Yields 1993, T.R. England and B.F. Rider; Rept. LA-UR-94-3106 (1994). ENDF/B-VI evaluation; MAT #9228, Revision 1.
  9. Table of Isotopes (1978), 7th edition. Editors: C.M. Lederer, V.S. Shirley. Authors: E. Browne, J.M. Dairiki, R.E. Doebler, A.A. Shihab-Eldin, J. Jardine, J.K. Tuli, and A.B. Buyrn, John Wiley, New York.

† The first Nuclear Wallet Cards was produced by F. Ajzenberg-Selove and C. L. Busch in 1971. The Isotopes Project at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) produced the next edition in 1979 based upon the Table of Isotopes, 7th edition (1978) [9]. The subsequent editions, in years 1985, 1990, 2000, and the last in 2005 were produced by Jagdish K. Tuli at the NNDC. In 2004, the Nuclear Wallet Cards for Radioactive Nuclides aimed at Homeland Security personnel were produced by Jagdish K. Tuli at the NNDC.

Nuclear Wallet Cards 2011

The eighth edition of the Nuclear Wallet Cards was produced in PDF format and released in November of 2011.