Element Facts
SYMBOL
Es
ATOMIC NO.
99
ATOMIC WEIGHT
252
CATEGORY
Actinide
PERIOD
Period 7
GROUP
Group 3
Discovery & History
Einsteinium was discovered in 1952 in highly radioactive debris from the first thermonuclear bomb test, Ivy Mike, detonated in the Pacific Ocean in November 1952. Scientists at Berkeley, Argonne, and Los Alamos secretly collected coral samples from the blast site and found new transuranic elements. The discovery of both einsteinium and fermium was kept classified until 1955. Named after Albert Einstein, whose mass-energy equivalence equation underpins nuclear physics.
Where It's Used
Einsteinium has no practical applications. Its intense radioactivity (einsteinium-253 has a half-life of 20.5 days) makes it extremely difficult to work with in chemical experiments. Research has focused on its chemistry and spectroscopy, including a milestone 2021 study that made the first optical measurements of einsteinium.
Can You Sell It?
Why QuickStop Metals doesn’t buy Einsteinium:
Einsteinium is a highly radioactive synthetic element produced in nuclear reactors in nanogram quantities per year. It is strictly controlled under nuclear regulations and available only to licensed research facilities. No commercial use or scrap trade exists.
Price Guide
No commercial market. Production is measured in nanograms per year at facilities such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The material is essentially priceless as a practical commodity.