What are the different uses of californium?

Californium was first made in 1950 at Berkeley, California, by a team consisting of Stanley Thompson, Kenneth Street Jr., Albert Ghiorso, and Glenn Seaborg. They made it by firing helium nuclei (alpha particles) at curium-242. The process yielded the isotope californium-245 which has a half-life of 44 minutes. read more

Californium is the heaviest element that has been produced in weighable amounts. The spectrum of Cf-254 has been observed in supernovae. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee is the only producer of Cf-252 for the U.S. government. Californium is considered to be a transuranium element, meaning "beyond uranium," on the periodic table. read more

Isotopes are different versions of the same element. They have the same number of protons, but different numbers of neutrons giving them different atomic masses. Californium-252 (Cf-252) is one several isotopes of californium. read more