Title: radioactive steady state
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - radioactive steady state
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.08758
Status: current

Definition
Among the radionuclides of a decay chain, the state that prevails when the ratios between the activities of successive radionuclides remain constant.

Note
This is not equilibrium in the strict sense, since radioactive decay is an irreversible process.

Source
- PAC, 2021, 93, 69. 'Vocabulary of radioanalytical methods (IUPAC Recommendations 2020)' on page 95 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2019-0302)

Other Outputs
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- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/08758/xml

Citation: Citation: 'radioactive steady state' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.08758
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Accessed: 2026-06-13T14:30:44+00:00