Nominal Mass |
Accurate Mass |
% Natural Abundance |
Chemical Form |
Enrichment Available % |
90 Zr | 89.9047026 (26) | 51.45 (2) | oxide | 84 - 99+ |
91 Zr | 90.9056439 (26) | 11.22 (2) | oxide | 44 - 96+ |
92 Zr | 91.9050386 (26) | 17.15 (1) | oxide, metal | 80 – 97+ |
94 Zr | 93.9063148 (28) | 17.38 (2) | oxide, metal | 73 – 98+ |
96 Zr | 95.908275 (4) | 2.80 (1) | oxide | 53 – 86+ |
Zirconium has five stable isotopes, of which a few are used for the production of radioisotopes. Although radioactive Zr-95 is a fission product, it can also produced by neutron irradiation of Zr-94. Zr-96 has been used for the production of the radioisotope Zr-97. Zr-90 can be used for the production of the PET isotope Nb-90. Finally, Zr-90 has been proposed for cladding in nuclear fuel. The use of Zr-90 would lower even further the already low neutron absorption cross section of natural Zr that is currently used as fuel cladding.