Aiken Times

BWXT Medical and Laurentis Complete Key Tc-99m Generator Program Milestone

Life-saving Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) isotopes can now be produced at Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, thanks to the installation and initial commissioning of an innovative isotope system by Laurentis Energy Partners and BWXT Medical Ltd. (NYSE: BWXT).

The production of Mo-99 at Darlington will be a world-first for a commercial power reactor.

With the necessary equipment now installed, the team will continue with planned commissioning and preparation activities for commercial production of Mo-99, pending completion of validation runs and approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada.

Mo-99 is used to produce Technetium-99 metastable (Tc-99m), one of the most prevalently used diagnostic imaging agents in nuclear medicine, which helps detect illnesses like cancer and heart disease.

Tc-99m is delivered to radiopharmacies and hospitals across North America to make radiopharmaceuticals for patients. This production break-through will help resolve historical shortages of this vital product.

Quick Facts:

• Because of the unique design of Darlington’s CANDU reactors, medical isotopes can be produced without interrupting the generation of clean energy.
• North America has not had a stable domestic supply of Mo-99 since Canada’s National Research Universal reactor ceased production in October 2016. Hospitals have had to rely on imports from Europe, Africa, and Australia.
• Once operational, the arrangement between Laurentis and BWXT Medical will be capable of producing enough Mo-99 to supply a significant portion of the current and future North American demand.
• Historically, Mo-99 has been produced within research reactors using uranium as a starting material. Alternatively, BWXT Medical’s Tc-99m generator will be produced using natural molybdenum targets irradiated at Darlington Nuclear, greatly reducing waste by-products.
• In the future, the newly-installed Target Delivery System (TDS) at Darlington may be used to produce other medical isotopes.
• With the addition of Mo-99, multiple isotopes are now produced at Darlington: Helium-3, Mo-99, and Tritium, with plans underway to produce Cobalt-60 – currently also extracted from reactors at Pickering.

Original source can be found here