Berkelium is a synthetic, radioactive element with the symbol Bk and atomic number 97. It was first synthesized in 1949 at the University of California, Berkeley by a team of scientists led by Glenn T. Seaborg. It is produced by bombarding heavier elements with alpha particles in a nuclear reactor. Berkelium is highly radioactive, with a half-life of only 320.4 days, and is only produced in small quantities due to its instability. It has no practical applications but is used for scientific research, particularly in the fields of nuclear physics and chemistry.