Curium

Curium (Cm) — 10-Year Trends

As of 2026-09-11 · the last 10 years

Curium’s research intensity is currently at about 40% of its all-time peak, a level that has remained essentially flat over the last decade, while its share of attention across all elements has risen.

Research intensity ran from about 38% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 40% in 2026 — essentially flat across the window, and the all-time peak (1964) lies before this window. Over the same span its share of research attention across all elements rose. Among the 118 elements, curium has one of the smaller research literatures of any element.

The number of papers involving the element rose from about 195 in 2016 to about 388 in 2025 (1.99x). That matches the growth of the literature as a whole over the same years: the general tide of scientific output, not a surge specific to the element.

The core of curium research lies in Curium in Actinide Separation and Bonding Studies, a community focused on curium(III) coordination, bonding, and its separation from americium and lanthanides via solvent extraction. Curium is a minor presence in this much larger community, appearing in about 2% of its papers. However, it accounts for about 41% of curium’s recent research, a share that is declining from about 60% in the previous period. A key anchor is a 2023 paper on separating americium from PUREX raffinate, cited about 71 times, which highlights the practical challenges of handling these elements.

A second major area is Curium Separation from Americium in Nuclear Reprocessing, which focuses on separating trivalent curium from americium using solvent extraction and nitric acid processes. Here, curium is also a minor presence, involved in about 1% of the community’s work. Yet its share of curium-specific research is rising, growing from about 13% to about 20%. A notable study on the impact of microbial processes on deep geological repository safety, cited about 52 times, underscores the long-term environmental considerations driving this work.

Curium also appears in Curium as a Minor Actinide in Spent Fuel, where it is studied as a minor actinide component within advanced reactor fuel cycles. Curium is a minor presence here as well, involved in about 1% of the community’s papers. Its share of curium research has remained steady at about 14%. Research in this area includes a 2021 study on the possibility of curium as a fuel for VVER-1200 reactors, cited about 16 times.

Finally, curium has begun to appear in Rare-Earth Recovery from Industrial Waste and Secondary Sources, a community where curium is a very minor presence, involved in under 1% of papers. However, its share of curium research is rising from zero to about 5%. This emerging interest is highlighted by a 2023 paper demonstrating that minor actinides can replace essential lanthanides in bacterial life, cited about 19 times.

Overall, the literature is shifting away from traditional separation and bonding studies toward reprocessing and broader recovery contexts. The "Other research communities" remainder has also grown, now holding about 20% of curium’s recent research. For a deeper look at curium's current standing, see the Last 12 Months and Executive Brief reports.