As a result it is not possible with any of the insoluble caesium compounds to create the source. But for teletherapy sources, the radioactive density (Ci in a given volume) needs to be very high.

For instance, radiothermal generators (RTGs) often use strontium titanate because it is insoluble in water.

In the production of radioactive sources it is normal to choose a chemical form of the radioisotope which will not be dispersed with ease in the environment as a result of an accident where the source is smashed open. Radioisotopes of caesium chloride are used in nuclear medicine, including treatment of cancer. If the two atom types are similar in size (imagine field hockey balls packed with tennis balls) then in the cubic lattice the structure will be like that of sodium chloride.Ĭaesium chloride is used in the preparation of electrically conducting glasses. It is the case that in a cubic 1:1 solid where one atom type is much larger than the other that the caesium chloride type lattice is obtained, it can be thought of as a combination of basketballs and golf balls packed in a cubic manner with the golf balls in the gaps between the basketballs. The caesium chloride structure is composed of interlocking simple cubic lattices of anions and cations.

Caesium chloride structure