While searching for decay product information for Cm-244, I came across the UCSD Radionuclide Data Sheets, which lists the half life for the metastable isomer Cm-244 (34 ms), rather than the nuclear ground state (18.1 yrs), however the data sheet does not indicate that this half life corresponds to the metastable state. Other Radionuclide Data Sheets list the half life for the nuclear ground states (for example, Lu-177). Is there something unique about Cm-244 that would explain why the metastable state half life should be displayed rather than the ground state? Is Cm-244 more likely to exist in this excited state compared with other radionuclides?
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