Isotopes of berkelium
Open-knowledge reference entry
Berkelium (97Bk) is an artificial element, and thus a standard atomic weight cannot be given. Like all artificial elements, it has no stable isotopes. The first isotope to be synthesized was 243Bk in 1949. There are twenty known radioisotopes, from 233Bk to 253Bk (except 237Bk), and seven nuclear isomers. The longest-lived isotope known is 247Bk with a half-life of 1,380 years; however 248Bk, which has not been observed to decay, may live longer.
The isotope commonly used in study, though, is 249Bk, as is it the only berkelium isotope that can be usefully extracted from reactor actinides and accumulated in weighable quantities.
List of isotopes
Actinides vs fission products
References
Isotope masses from:
Audi, Georges; Bersillon, Olivier; Blachot, Jean; Wapstra, Aaldert Hendrik (2003), "The NUBASE evaluation of nuclear and decay properties", Nuclear Physics A, 729: 3–128, Bibcode:2003NuPhA.729....3A, doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2003.11.001
Half-life, spin, and isomer data selected from the following sources.
Audi, Georges; Bersillon, Olivier; Blachot, Jean; Wapstra, Aaldert Hendrik (2003), "The NUBASE evaluation of nuclear and decay properties", Nuclear Physics A, 729: 3–128, Bibcode:2003NuPhA.729....3A, doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2003.11.001
National Nuclear Data Center. "NuDat 3.0 database". Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Isotopes of berkelium” is open-knowledge reference entry. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Isotopes, berkelium and Open-knowledge, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “open-knowledge reference entry” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q221118. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1949, 2003 and 1016.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Isotopes of berkelium”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Isotopes of berkelium primary sources, Isotopes of berkelium archive and Isotopes research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Isotopes of berkelium”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Isotopes of berkelium” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.