摘要：The isotope industry consists of establishments producing or enriching elements to create various
isotopes for commercial, research, and medical applications. Isotopes may be stable or radioactive, depending
on whether their nuclei are stable or whether the nuclei decay over time to form other isotopes, with the
release of energy in the form of radiation (box 1). Because radioisotopes decay, they may need to be provided
to the end-user as rapidly as possible depending on the duration of their half-lives. Although both stable and
radioactive isotopes are used directly by the end-user, most stable isotopes are produced as precursors or
target materials for the production of radioisotopes. Therefore unless otherwise noted, this article will
primarily address radioisotopes. An isotope may be chemically linked with other atoms to form either a
simple or complex molecule referred to as a radiochemical and, if the radiochemical is approved for internal
medical use, the substance is referred to as a radiopharmaceutical. A list of commonly used radioisotopes,
half-lives, production methods, along with their applications is in box 2.
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