The following table lists ALL radioactive nuclei with a half-life greater than 1000 years.
An element decays away below detectable levels in about ten to fifteen half-lives.
Isotope | Half-life (yr) | Rel. Abundance |
Holmium-166m | 1,200 | none |
Berkelium-247 | 1,380 | none |
Radium-226 | 1,600 | trace |
Molybdenum-93 | 4,000 | none |
Holmium-153 | 4,570 | none |
Curium-246 | 4,730 | none |
Carbon-14 | 5,730 | trace |
Plutonium-240 | 6,563 | none |
Thorium-229 | 7,340 | none |
Americium-243 | 7,370 | none |
Curium-245 | 8,500 | none |
Curium-250 | 9,000 | none |
Tin-126 | 10,000 | none |
Niobium-94 | 20,300 | none |
Plutonium-239 | 24,110 | none |
Protactinium-231 | 32,760 | trace |
Lead-202 | 52,500 | none |
Lanthanum-137 | 60,000 | none |
Thorium-230 | 75,380 | none |
Nickel-59 | 76,000 | none |
Thorium-230 | 77,000 | trace |
Calcium-41 | 103,000 | none |
Neptunium-236 | 154,000 | none |
Uranium-233 | 159,200 | none |
Rhenium-186m | 200,000 | none |
Technetium-99 | 211,000 | none |
Krypton-81 | 229,000 | none |
Uranium-234 | 245,500 | trace |
Chlorine-36 | 301,000 | none |
Curium-248 | 340,000 | none |
Bismuth-208 | 368,000 | none |
Plutonium-242 | 373,300 | none |
Aluminum-26 | 717,000 | none |
Selenium-79 | 1,130,000 | none |
Iron-60 | 1,500,000 | none |
Beryllium-10 | 1,510,000 | none |
Zircon-93 | 1,530,000 | none |
Curium-247 | 1,560,000 | none |
Gadolinium-150 | 1,790,000 | none |
Neptunium-237 | 2,144,000 | none |
Cesium-135 | 2,300,000 | none |
Technetium-97 | 2,600,000 | none |
Dysprosium-154 | 3,000,000 | none |
Bismuth-210m | 3,040,000 | none |
Manganese-53 | 3,740,000 | none |
Technetium-98 | 4,200,000 | none |
Palladium-107 | 6,500,000 | none |
Hafnium-182 | 9,000,000 | none |
Lead-205 | 15,300,000 | none |
Curium-247 | 15,600,000 | none |
Iodine-129 | 17,000,000 | trace |
Uranium-236 | 23,420,000 | none |
Niobium-92 | 34,700,000 | none |
Plutonium-244 | 80,800,000 | none |
Samarium-146 | 103,000,000 | none |
Uranium-236 | 234,200,000 | none |
Uranium-235 | 703,800,000 | rare |
Potassium-40 | 1,280,000,000 | rare |
Uranium-238 | 4,468,000,000 | common |
Rubidium-87 | 4,750,000,000 | common |
Thorium-232 | 14,100,000,000 | common |
Lutetium-176 | 37,800,000,000 | rare |
Rhenium-187 | 43,500,000,000 | common |
Lanthanum-138 | 105,000,000,000 | rare |
Samarium-147 | 106,000,000,000 | common |
Platinum-190 | 650,000,000,000 | rare |
Tellurium-123 | >1 x 10^13 | rare |
Osmium-184 | >5.6 x 10^13 | rare |
Gadolinium-152 | 1.08 x 10^14 | rare |
Tantalum-180m | >1.2 x 10^15 | rare |
Xenon-124 | >1.6 x 10^14 | rare |
Indium-115 | 4.41 x 10^14 | common |
Zinc-70 | >5 x 10^14 | rare |
Hafnium-174 | 2.0 x 10^15 | rare |
Osmium-186 | 2.0 x 10^15 | common |
Samarium-149 | >2 x 10^15 | common |
Neodymium-144 | 2.29 x 10^15 | common |
Samarium-148 | 7 x 10^15 | common |
Cadmium-113 | 7.7 x 10^15 | common |
Cerium-142 | >5 x 10^16 | common |
Tungsten-183 | >1.1 x 10^17 | common |
Vanadium-50 | 1.4 x 10^17 | rare |
Lead-204 | 1.4 x 10^17 | common |
Chromium-50 | >1.8 x 10^17 | common |
Tungsten-184 | >3 x 10^17 | common |
Calcium-48 | >6.3 x 10^18 | common |
Molybdenum-100 | 1.0 x 10^19 | common |
Neodynium-150 | >1.1 x 10^19 | common |
Zircon-96 | >3.8 x 10^19 | common |
Selenium-82 | 1.1 x 10^20 | common |
Tellurium-130 | 7.9 x 10^20 | common |
Xenon-136 | >2.4 x 10^21 | common |
Tellurium-128 | 2.2 x 10^24 | common |
Stable Isotopes | infinite | ** |
* "Common" means the isotope comprises more than 1% of the local atomic abundance
of its element. "Rare" means it has an abundance of less than 1%. "Trace" means
the elements concentration is effectively negligible, much less than 0.01%.
In the case of Protactinium (whose only isotope is radioactive and short-lived)
the concentration was compared to that of nearby elements.
**Of 280 total stable isotopes, about 70% are common, 30% are rare, and 1% are trace.
NO stable isotopes are absent.
Sources:
http://ie.lbl.gov/toi/nucSearch.asp
http://www.webelements.com/
http://www.blackcatsystems.com/science/natRadiation.html
Serway et al. 1997, "Modern Physics"