Question: why is it important to know the properties of radioactive materials?

Thomas Elias Cocolios answered on 12 Mar 2014:

There are 3 main avenues that justify the study of radioactive materials (beyond the obvious one, which is my main focus, that is to understand how things work):

1- nuclear energy. In order to best understand to produce electricity efficiently and, most importantly, safely, you need to know the reactions that happen in the different systems, the impact that it will have on the structural integrity of the building and the system’s components (e.g. on stainless steel vessels, aluminium parts, …) and be prepared in case of troubles.

2- nuclear medicine. You want to be able to use the best isotopes with detailed imaging and targeted treatment of cancer cells. In spite of 7,000 possible radioactive nuclei (of which we have only observed 3,500 so far), there are only 7 used in medicine! This is because the rest has not been studied thoroughly enough and we employ ourselves to develop new techniques for our work and then transfer those to the medical world.

3- nuclear astrophysics. Where do we come from? Where do all the elements come from? Those are fundamental questions that excite everybody. We are therefore trying to understand the nuclear processes involving radioactive nuclei in the stars, or during stellar cataclysmic events (e.g. supernovae).

Finally, through all of that, there is serendipity: by searching for random stuff, you may sometimes find a hidden gem that could change the face of the earth. Did you know the World Wide Web was invented at CERN to allow physicists to exchange their ideas and data faster? Quite broader than that nowadays!