Experiments conducted at the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (Joint Institute for Nuclear Research) at Dubna in Russia indicate that element 118 (ununoctium, Uuo) was produced. Not too much though, one atom in the spring of 2002 and two more in 2005.1^,2

The 2002 experiment involved firing a beam of ⁴⁸₂₀Ca at ²⁴⁹₉₈Cf. The experiment took 4 months and involved a beam of 2.5 x 10¹⁹ calcium ions to produce the single event believed to be the synthesis of ²⁹⁴₁₁₈Uuo.

²⁴⁹₉₈Cf + ⁴⁸₂₀Ca → ²⁹⁴₁₁₈Uuo + 3¹n

This ununoctium isotope loses three alpha particles in rapid succesion:

²⁹⁴₁₁₈Uuo → ²⁹⁰₁₁₆Uuh + ⁴₂He (1.29 milliseconds)

²⁹⁰₁₁₆Uuh → ²⁸⁶₁₁₄Uuq + ⁴₂He (14.4 milliseconds)

²⁸⁶₁₁₄Uuq → ²⁸²₁₁₂Uub + ⁴₂He (230 milliseconds)

The ²⁸²₁₁₂Uub species then undergoes spontaneous fragmentation (denoted SF) to other species. It took a few years to carry out enough research to properly characterize the decompoition products.

In 2005 a similar experiment but with more sensitive detectors and a total beam dose of 1.6 x 10¹⁹ calcium ions resulted in the detection of two further events arising from the formation of ²⁹⁴₁₁₈Uuo.

This work is particularly significant given the scandal associated with the first report (now withdrawn) of element 118.

• 1. Synthesis of the isotopes of elements 118 and 116 in the Cf249 and Cm245+Ca48 fusion reactions,
  Oganessian, Yu., Utyonkov V., Lobanov Yu., Abdullin F., Polyakov A., Sagaidak R., Shirokovsky I., Tsyganov Yu., Voinov A., Gulbekian G., et al.
  , Physical Review C, 10/2006, Volume 74, Issue 4, (2006)
  
• 2. Synthesis and decay properties of superheavy elements,
  Oganessian, Yuri
  , Pure and Applied Chemistry, 2006, Volume 78, Issue 5, p.889 - 904, (2006)
  

Synthesis of the isotopes of elements 118 and 116 in the Cf249 and Cm245+Ca48 fusion reactions, Oganessian, Yu., Utyonkov V., Lobanov Yu., Abdullin F., Polyakov A., Sagaidak R., Shirokovsky I., Tsyganov Yu., Voinov A., Gulbekian G., et al. , Physical Review C, 10/2006, Volume 74, Issue 4, (2006)