[txhurl]

Is polonium that rare?

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

Yes. Very.

[justlurking]

Is polonium that rare?

Yes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polonium#Occurrence_and_production

Polonium is a very rare element in nature because of the short half-life of all its isotopes. 210Po, 214Po, and 218Po appear in the decay chain of 238U; thus polonium can be found in uranium ores at about 0.1 mg per metric ton (1 part in 1010),[39][40] which is approximately 0.2% of the abundance of radium.

Because it is present in such small concentrations, isolation of polonium from natural sources is a very tedious process. The largest batch of the element ever extracted, performed in the first half of the 20th century, contained only 40 Ci (1.5 TBq) (9 mg) of polonium-210 and was obtained by processing 37 tonnes of residues from radium production.[44] Polonium is now obtained by irradiating bismuth with high-energy neutrons or protons.[15][45]

[Calvin Locke]

I think the world-wide production is around 500 grams/year.

Back in the day...it was used in textile mills for static discharge purposes. Technology has moved on.