One Gram of Californium Can Buy You 200 Kilograms of Gold

Gold is often considered the most valuable metal in the world. However, there is a metal far rarer and more expensive than gold: Californium. In fact, one gram of Californium is worth enough to buy 200 kilograms of gold.

What is Californium?
Californium is an artificial, radioactive chemical element created in laboratories. It does not occur naturally, which makes it extremely rare and expensive. The element was first synthesized in 1950 by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, after which it was named Californium (symbol: Cf).

Why is it so expensive?
The extraordinarily high price of Californium is due to:

• Its artificial production, which involves complex processes in nuclear reactors.
• Its extreme rarity and limited global supply.
• The technical challenges and costs associated with its manufacture.

Currently, the price of one gram of Californium is around $27 million (approximately ₹240 crore). By comparison, gold costs roughly ₹1.30 crore per kilogram, which means a single gram of Californium can purchase about 200 kilograms of gold.

Uses of Californium
Californium has several high-value applications:

• Nuclear reactors and small modular reactors.
• Medical treatments, including neutron therapy for cancer, where Californium-252 precisely targets and destroys cancer cells.
• Space exploration and industrial applications.
• Homeland security, for detecting hazardous materials.

Californium is thus not only a scientific and industrial marvel but also a life-saving element in medicine, highlighting its unmatched value in the modern world.