“Ours is the first study to precisely measure all krypton isotopes for the mantle, including the rarest krypton isotopes, Kr-78 and Kr-80,” she said. Building a planet ...

Detecting this isotope, though, is extremely challenging. Krypton accounts for one part per million of all atoms in the atmosphere, and less than one in every trillion of those is an atom of 81 Kr.

Current work focuses on the isotopes 81 Kr, used to date ice or water with an age range of approximately 20, 000 to 2 million years, and 85 Kr, which dates on the 5 - to 50 -year scale.

Because the NSCL is the nation’s premier rare isotope accelerator, it’s capable of shooting 100 billion krypton atoms a second. Even then, Ni-78 only shows up about twice a day.

"The research reactor to be built in Busan will not only ensure stable domestic supply but make it possible to export isotopes and drugs made from the material to other parts of Asia, including ...

The new 20-megawatt reactor, along with an isotope production facility, will be built in Busan, 450 kilometers south of Seoul, by 2016. The 290 billion won ($259 million) project will be partially ...