What is protactinium used for?

Because it is rare and toxic, protactinium has no practical uses, according to LiveScience. It is used in scientific research and it may offer future applications.

Protactinium is formed in the Earth's crust, and it is one of the rarest natural minerals. It is highly radioactive, which makes it harmful to humans. The fact that it is rare makes the material very expensive as well. Even if science is able to figure out a way to protect humans from the radiation, the costs of producing goods with protactinium are disadvantageous. Great Britain extracted 125 grams of protactinium from 1959 to 1961 at a cost of $500,000.