Californium Industry Report by Regional Category Spend, Price Analysis, Key Demand and Price Indicators, and Best Buying Practices
 

The global californium market reached a value of about USD 642.7 Million in 2021. The industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 5.4% in the forecast period of 2022-2027 to reach a value of about USD 887.3 Million by 2027.

The global californium industry report comprehensively analyses the industry, including key segments, trends, drivers, restraints, the competitive landscape, and other essential market aspects. Californium is a metal that belongs to the actinide family and is utilised in a variety of applications. Its increasing usage in a variety of applications due to its radioactive qualities, such as neutron sources in nuclear reactors, material scanners, and some forms of cancer therapy, is driving the worldwide californium market size. One of the few trans-uranium elements produced and used in practical applications is Californium. Because of its propensity to release neutrons, it is used to start nuclear reactors. Furthermore, the expanding well logging operations in the United States and the Middle East oil sectors are moving this market forward. In the industry report, the critical demand indicator is the highest category spender by region—Asia Pacific.

Industry Definition and Segmentation

With the symbol Cf and atomic number 98, Californium is an artificial, highly radioactive chemical element that does not exist in nature. It's an actinide, one of the 15 radioactive metals at the bottom of the periodic table. Only a few of its compounds, such as californium oxide (CfO3), californium trichloride (CfCl3), and californium oxychloride, have been synthesised and researched (CfOCl). The Californium industry report comprises segments by type (californium-251 (cf-251), californium-252 (cf-252), and others), application (medicine (cancer radiotherapy, in-vivo activation analysis, and other diagnostic techniques), nuclear (nuclear weapons and reactors, neutron radiography, and others), aerospace & defence, coal and cement, governmental & academic research, and others) and region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa, and South America).

North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and South America Regions are Driving the Procurement of Californium

The expanding well logging activities in the oil sectors in the United States and the Middle East are moving this market forward. Because of their expanding industrialisation and burgeoning healthcare sectors, Brazil and Argentina are California's most important emerging markets in South America.

The increasing use of the metal in a variety of applications due to its radioactive qualities, such as neutron sources in nuclear reactors, material scanners, and certain types of cancer treatment, is driving the worldwide market size. Furthermore, PGNAA allows for real-time sample analysis and the most excellent level of precision and responsiveness for elemental composition measurements, all of which contribute to cost savings. As a result of these benefits, experts in the coal and cement industries frequently use californium-252 neutron sources.

However, factors like the high cost, the complicated manufacturing process, its radioactive nature, and the need for specialised shielding walls and shipping containers to ensure the safety of Californium during shipping are hampering the industry's expansion.

Best Procurement Practices

The global californium industry report by Procurement Resource gives an in-depth analysis of the best buying practices followed by major global californium regions across the globe, such as engagement models, contract terms, and buyer and supplier negotiation levers, among others.

Category Management Studies

Particle accelerators and nuclear reactors create Californium. Berkelium-249 is bombarded with neutrons, resulting in berkelium-250, which beta decays to californium-250. When californium-250 is flooded with a neutron, californium-251 and californium-252 are produced. California-252 is produced by irradiating curium isotopes with a neutron in nuclear reactors. A few mg of californium-252 and g of californium-249 can be made by exposing plutonium and americium to neutrons for a long time. The production of three californium isotopes with substantial half-lives necessitates a total of 15 neutron captures by uranium-238 without nuclear fission or alpha decay. The isotopes 249 to 253 are after a manufacturing chain that begins with uranium-238 and includes plutonium isotopes, americium, curium, berkelium, and the Californium isotopes 249 to 253. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has microgram amounts of californium-252 accessible for commercial purposes. Only the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors in Dimitrovgrad, Russia, manufacture californium-252. The two locations generate 0.25 and 0.025 grammes of californium-252 per year, respectively, as of 2003.

Substantial Demand in Various Sectors, Further Propelling the Market

The primary growth drivers of the californium market are an increase in the need for cancer treatment applications and increased research effort in nuclear reactions and their potential advantages in developed nations. Furthermore, the advent of its prospective applications such as finding valuable metals such as silver or gold, biodefense, and the growing number of nuclear reactors in emerging economies such as China, India, and others are moving the californium industry forward. Furthermore, the oil industry's need for Californium is driven by an increase in well logging operations to evaluate the porosity and permeability of the surrounding material, the discovery of shale beds and hydrocarbons, and a surge in shale gas production. Furthermore, the increased demand for scanning of fuel rods, weapons parts, and aircraft components to detect cracks, faulty welds, and other flaws is helping to the growth of this market in the military and defence industry. The market is also driven by the rising demand for the metal from the healthcare sector for cancer treatment.

The regional markets for the industry can be divided into North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia Pacific.

Key Industry Players Mentioned in the Californium Industry Report

• Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Research Institute of Atomic Reactors

Market Landscape

Key tactics in the Californium market research participants include technology launches, acquisitions, and R&D efforts. Frontier Technology Corporation, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Research Institute of Atomic Reactors, among others, are significant players in the industry.

Key Initiatives by Companies

• Engineers from Lancaster University in the UK collaborated with the Joef Stefan Institute in Slovenia to convey digitally encoded information using "fast neutrons" instead of radio waves and mobile phone signals. The researchers used californium-252, a radioactive isotope generated in nuclear reactors, to quantify the spontaneous emission of fast neutrons. They used radioactive radiation instead of traditional technologies to transmit digitally encoded data wirelessly successfully.