Berkelium is produced by cyclotron bombardment.
A total of ten isotopes are now known and have been synthesized. Berkelium chloride, which is one of the first visible amounts of a pure berkelium compound, was produced in 1962. It weighed 1 billionth of a gram. Berkelium, which is similar to other actinide elements, tends to accumulate in the skeletal system. At the present time, because of its rarity, berklium has no commercial or technological use.