Isotope Distribution - First Year July 1, 1946 to June 30, 1947

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UNITED STATES ATOMIC ENERGY CW tS SION Oak R i dge, Tennessee Pre pa redby nErOSlToRY Oak Ridge Operations Office Records Holding Task Group (RHTG) FOLDER Isotope Branch Circulars United States A to mtc Energy Commsss.ion

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TABU OF CONTENTS Section 1- Distribution of Radioisotopes by 13State, Institution and Department of Subject and Isotope Section 2 -. Uses of Radioisotopes by F i e l d 29 p m r III - STABU ISOTOPES Section 1- Distribution of Stable Isotopes by of Subject and Isotope Section 2 - Uses of Stable Isotopes by Field

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G I ~June 16, 1946, Heedquarters of the Lmhatfan Project first arJlounced active isotopes for use' inthe I43tion's scientific, techniczl, and medical investigntions. iLn August 2thc first ship ents of radioisotopes were uade. Gn January 1, 1947, this program, with cfine record of five montts of successful operction, P ~ St-ken aver, along with other operatiom of t h e '&til tne passing of the one-year mrk of isotope distribution it i s appropriate tht a report ori t h c Pro,-ram bs nude. niczl nrt i cles hwe qpezrecl of: work nchievea with distributed isotopes. k nuaber of announcemnts on zdditional isotope distributions en rice ir.ve been published in the scientific journals, and pop ukr releases on the uses of iSo+,opes have apparcd in thu press and magazines. been called to our attention by scientific and a e dic zl cdvisory groups that an occasional smruy report of t h c over-all Lcvelopents and ncconplishnents of the prog rm should be publisned for tiie infornation of the k tion ls The Comnission I s indccd ixze thct it exercises avi rt w l nonopoyj in the d is td nti on of ;;nny isctopes :?d tint t:5s distribution is now essential t o a wide rmgc of ixvestigztions and applicztions. importance of isotopc a is tri bL tion is evidcnced by the rc-port which follovls. It i s t!ie intention oIc the Coririission t o press thc- program fonta-d, within the provisions of the Atonic ? h r = Act of 1946; t;.ith a vim to increasing benefit to scientific tldvaiicc ar.d humn x elf are Distribution of h dio iso to - m s mre shipped t o 160 institutions =id organizations, representiqg 241 departments in3l.sttt.s LYC: inth e_.T err i tory cf Emaii. and hospitals (ir ~ clu d in gnedic-1 scnools), for usc a thcra?y, dicgnosis, in rcsezrch, 50; in aust ric l -a-.iy ofit orgx-izations, for use in both In the first 12 months of the program If there ci pic nts zrc di.;idid intc four main categories, the number .

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A more d etc i lcd picture of tlie pk ccs to which r sdio iso tops were U oca ted is given Table 2 and in the bug r qh. The number of . departments reveals roughly the naibcr of U i ' erLnt groups of invest i -

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About hO differ ext rxiioisoto?es were shipped - a major portion FisAon products k-.ve bexi z r o u p d 2s an: eritry,. 1 s have most of those diagnosis and therzpy, constitute t kela pst nmbor of shipments of

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DlSTRlBUTlON OF INSTITUTIONS AND DEPARTMENTS BY STATE LOCATIONS IN WHICH RADIOISOTOPES WERE USED, JULY I, 1946 - JUNE 30, 1947

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DISTRIBUTION OF RADI Gii ATX A IS BY ISOTOPES 10 isotopes of fission products (separated) -I. 40 isotopes i n irradiclted units (u separated Service ir redi at ions from t a - gc t mter ids) 308 largest total activity shipped i n the form of sz pax ted isopopes (over. 10,000 milli mi ries ench) . It is particulzrljr r,otcworthy that the first year's distribution included over 90 shipents of C l.4, with a total activity of ,.bout- 130 milli curies. important isotope, C If+, is millon s of tines grc c ter than that heretofore wail able for invzstigations. - ' This quantity of the extremely In Table 4 ore shown the.rider of sb ip ents per month. These are presented graphically in the hccornpaqjring curve.

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It c m be seen that the rck r,f akip.mt hes increased during the first Dip the corrqensntory, small n-mbcr in June, the ix rex e h.s been steady from mozth t o month. been renched, but rather th t the r.vnbor of e hip eEt s per month vfll continue t o increasc as narc -,?d mre lc bom tories bocorne equipped fcr. &cc$ for tile inorLiXtc?-y iarge number i n &y, folloxed Indic at iom crc that no pl-teau in shipping rate hs Hundreds of diff went uscs cm being made of d is tr iS utc dx dio isotopes, a fairly large nuiiber of ncLic ~ li n st it ut ions are using r;iOiiolsotopcsf o r The first tyro types of

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mecLic31 theilzpy, diagnosis, and resecrch, promise a vast extension 02 knowledge i1-1 mmy fields, ?.nd their ultimate value t o humm vielfare isotopes can be classified roushly into nine groups, although most of the work ha3 been done in the fields of medical therapy 2nd physiology (anha1 adhwj. Agriculture, plsnt physioiogy, industrial research, chemistry, crnd pl pic s account for most of thc rei ider, with lesser mounts of vmrk being done i n microbiology (bacteriology) a d metd-lurgy. h y specialized phases rol-ted tothe r.bove fields me represented, such as miin~1husbandry, biochemistry, dentistry, entomology, indus tr icl hygiene, petroleum engineering, ph wc ology, rrldiology, soil science, surgery, toxicology, veterinary Tracer ime stig ct ions, of course, From the stcndpoint of fields of investigction; the uses of radioAn a ppe cia tion for the scope of n dio iso to pcs cs tracers in biological ,and medical resecrch can be gained from thi: following list of some of thd bio logic dn nter in ls that ors being kbe led and traced: acias , zntigens, bacteria, bile ncids, blood cells, carbohydrztes, carcinogens, enzymes, fats, fz,tty acids, hormones, insulin, nucleic acids, pcrLi.cilih, pharmeccuticnl. cgonts, ?roteins, stcrches, sulfz drugs,' tissue fiu ids znd salts, viruses, and vitamins. such labeled naterials are studied in the org ms mG tissues of P aide variety of organisms (plants, mimzzls, m d man). Therapg- of n iFr thyroid is m cnd certain thyroid cancers with I 131 h a been employcd rz the r e-utensiveljj c?.s hzs that with3 32 h the treat nen t of polycythania vera m d other blood dyscrnsias , tested tnc thurapeutic value of colloid n lr adh gold (Au 198) in cases of lymphoid xaligmncy, radioisotopes i n beta-rey np9licators and in colloids f o r trectrxmt of Sevan l others =e testing the efficacy of ccrtcin I 131 k s becn used i n studics of the fund mm tal metabolism of the t h e mcchmism of both carbohflrzte 2nd protein mctc?bolism by use of comand. tcoth fom?tion. haw been attccked by using rzdiocnlcium znd-r=ldiod considerable nU er of aorltcrs cre ct tempt hg to elucidate kv uic ty of 'problems, including those of bone ' r xii oso dim has been emplojred inthL study o f water balance m db hod flow. Fadioi$on i s being usdd i n studies-of blood function, and O f all the studic.s in plat physiology the most dr x z tic is probnbly others have in it in t - ? d studies to increase our lmovrfcdgt. of thc absorption by plmts cnimzGs of phosphorus, calcium, iron, potzssium, w d some traci: elements by using tht: qpropriz.te r ? .dio is c top in cach cnse. Lhny otkcr studi is reiz<;ed to c gri cd ture &radi n progress, including

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I n chcnristry the principnl cnplysis h,?s been on tho use of labeled fiiolccules in the study of rcaction 2nd exchmge nechnisms, effort is being m.de i n certain industrial research twrk, notnbly inthe ficld of catdy3is i n hydrocc?rbon reactions.. Physicists have us;d o goodly nWcr c.f radioisotopcs in their effort borne t o x i c 2nd infectiocs m.teri?.ls hns been made possible by studying the capacity of filters 2nd cxhzust systcms. t o remove finely ?.tomized rcdioactivi: mat erin ls of short hz.'f-life, Increasing applications are being made i n industrir.1 problems. These include investigations on friction, lubrication, diffusion; aging and oxidation of mtnls,ld ne tics of reactions ir?-solid alloys, control of h pui ties in mctcl mclts, -petroleum crccking, oil field logging, and chemical process eff ici enc lcs. isotopes listed 80 procurcble radioisptopas, announcerlent tht none of the; rziioisotopes m s yet i n routine production. For afelg isotopes only, pzcduction prwesscs wrc under technic& developthe supplier,.has achicvcd such progress in routine production of m y itcns ana h?s m design if ic xt inprovmcnt inthe form adav dl ability of thosc materials not ;.c;t i n routine production. of items i s now cidequcte t o mc.; thl: lc g it htc demands of ,213.usczs ivhc can pqssible toAd 16 procurablc radioisotopes t o tho list originally rclccscd For nost isotopes, proccsscs xere lrfgcly in t h e research o r tncn During t h e clcpsed yccr, Clinton Lsborztorics, O& Ridge, Tcmessce, Production of t h e majority 1r1A d it ion, it has been Invcstigators m y now sxurc scrvice. irradiation s of their ova for exposure in thc Clinton pifc) nay bc subjcctcd to pil c ir rz di ation.

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ChenicaUy s cpr k edS 35 of high s po ci fic activity ha been made cvnilable in t h e form of labeled compound) has also made possible lower prices on these itais. irradiated sulfur tellurium, respectively) now en ebb thc supplicr t o used in medic& invostigztions on hum bcings, both i n diagnosis a d thcmpy. &all quant it ics of chai icc ll y soparated C E 45 of high specific Z ct iv it y rccction in s cm dim, Some of +,he important*t r c c c r rxiioisotopcs, such 2s rcdioiron, redocalc iu, '2nd radiocillorine, originally mai.l.l-blz only with low specific activity, are now being mcde av zi h ble with mch higher specific nctivity, This isotope i s produccd by tr ks mutation \ihcn ejrtrzction prococlurcs h w c been dcvclopcd Commission Lzboratorics for their resezrch progrms, qumtities of certain coqmxrlds c m be synthesized for use by hb oratories av'aihble, and C lit-lcbeled barium carbide and sodium fomte should be intermedictes, are ez2ected t o bLcome cvclikble also, Availabilitx, Distribution, and Use of Curing the seven months that the distribution prop a has been under the control of the :ztonic Aerm Coi:lfission, enriched forms of three st c ble isotopes *we been lade mci lc ble, fluoride cm plc x cont air hgB 10 concentrz.tcd t o 94 per ccnt of the bcron about 7 times that in n:.tu-e, i s mciLSlo in mc erin wilicii thc deuterium is not enriched. I-ecvy hydrogen is av dh ble a deuterium Since the Lky 1, 1947, mnouricacnt cf dcutcriun distribution, over 75 research groups in all pzrts of this country have bem ZUocatcd an equivalent of ,3bout 28,000 g r x s cl" deuterium oxidc, Lower pricc and grozter Studies that w rep rt vicu sly unfcnsiblc =e nov being n&c in Thc dcutcriuii o r deu',criu. oxide i s being used tosu ~ p l ybon,buding deuterons f o r cyclotrons a 2 other nuclear acccler3ting devices 2 t 18 rcsesrch k st it ut ions.Gtixr zp;jlicz.tions i n physics include: absorption g f 6.0uterons; filler for high-pressbe cloud chmbers; calibration of mass

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I n chemistry deuterium is being employed ;to synthesize substituted conpounds such as deuterium-labeled benzene,ali ph tic hydrocarbons, a d halogerctid fatty acids, which w e studled for their physical m d chemical investigated -,-nth heavy hydrogen. The mechcnisms of cert a jn chemical recctions m e very easily Deuterium is also senring as o. tool in my biological and m dic nl investigations, I Biosynthesizcd tyros he being lcbeled with deuterium .;Eill be used t o study thc metzbolic sspect of this mterk.1, Studies of total body weter 2nd extr;rcc-llul;?r fluids in various physiological conditions of t h o human body =e being mzde with hemy water, as are mctabolism studies involving mho acids, bile acids, fatty ccids, trgptophane, glycogen, nicotinic acid, etc.L. Eleven lading institutions conducting nuclear resecrch have received sllocntions of 6he complex containing B 10. iilthough B 10 i s boing used chiefly in tho pre,wat ion of ionization chambars ad cow.ters fop neutron dctcction, some invcstigctors indicate th z t studies of nuclear recctions Since distribution of 0 1s k.s only recently been announced, no report i s made on this item, th cw teri al, it wifi in nost. ecses be enriched further bcfore use bjr several groups who have s d up. c quipe nt suit zb lc for the purpose. Bcceusc of the relatively low cn rich ent of radioactivity involved, any application requires certain fundmental knowledge for effective and szfe use of rAioisotopes. Info m tik on hcclth protection is one of the most frequent requests However, be case of the received i n connection xi th the progrm. Sever21 circulars on health protection orc avcilable, and further info m tion zl circulars on medical rvld health protection 2iecsures are being prepared fcsr d is tri iut ion to For practical purposes, hcaith protection nay be considered os presenth g two in divi dud but mb%ed problem. The first, vhich i s iar,-ely medical, consists of determining exporimerrtally the biological effects of rcdiations xi&rzdionctivc mter in lsm d of chccking for possible - of personnel usirig rq.cSosctive nztericls. which m y be produced by r? wide vsri2ty of r dio isotopes. k vec crt a in indices which are cjf vslue, Lproued methods of detecting possible radiation ef z ect sue continually being sought. Sxperiuents x c being conducted, to the first. bd'Ling t,w'hniques, dccontmimcion, etc,, which serve t o avert any excess exposure to radioactivity, Rcsoarch and dcvelopiient is under way t o improve

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Advisory Field Service In vim of the general nced for health protection z ssi stm ce in the use of rx@oisotopes, thc; Atomic hergy Co&ssion has cstcblishcd, in cdnjunctirk with the distribution program, m frdvisory Field Scwicc. When o specific need fo? this service is indicated, it is pr wide d to isotope users without charge. feasible, it Will attempt t o advise and de available information on new techniques of nexiurement and applicction. physicizn and heclth-physicist available f o r consultation. service is a t present limited t o those in nost nebd of it, it m y be expanded as decned necessary. Its prbe objective is t o render assist m ce, The service, which functions through t h e Isotopos Brmch, now has a In st kent ation diverted their entire production to war the needs. was the largest single custom r, requires n lmgc nmber of ths produczd instruments t o continuo its work many new finns, are, however, …