Tests of nuclear half-lives as a function of the host medium and temperature: Refutation of recent claims

• Published in: Applied radiation and isotopes Vol. 68; no. 7; pp. 1550 - 1554
• Main Authors: Hardy, J.C., Goodwin, J.R., Golovko, V.V., Iacob, V.E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2010
• ISSN: 0969-8043; 1872-9800
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2009.11.047

When radioactive isotopes that decay by α, β −, β + and electron-capture transitions are placed in a conducting host material, it has recently been claimed that their half-lives show a significant dependence on temperature—up to a 6% difference between room temperature and 12 K. We have refuted two of these claims by measuring: (1) the β − decay of 198Au in gold, for which we find the half life to be the same within 0.04% between room temperature and 19 K; and (2) the electron-capture decay of 97Ru in ruthenium, for which we find any half-life difference to be <0.1%.