Poland's only operating research reactor - the MARIA reactor at the National Centre for Nuclear Research in Świerk - has been able to rapidly rearrange its work schedule to respond to a shortage of the medical isotope molybdenum-99 due to a fault at the High Flux Reactor in the Netherlands.

Bruce unit 7 has become the first nuclear power reactor in the world with installed capability to produce the medical radioisotope lutetium-177. The isotope, which is used in the treatment of cancers such as neuroendocrine tumours and prostate cancer, will be produced from ytterbium targets irradiated in the reactor.

Enough cobalt-60 to sterilise 10 billion items of medical equipment was recently shipped from unit 7 at Canada's Bruce nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, a new production base for medical radioisotopes is being set up at the Qinshan Phase III nuclear power plant in China.

A Memorandum of Understanding between Framatome and Exelon Generation will see the two companies work towards the production of cobalt-60 in pressurised water reactors for medical and industrial uses.

Worldwide supplies of molybdenum-99 made without using highly enriched uranium are now sufficient for the USA to ban exports of HEU material for foreign medical isotope production.
 

Westinghouse Electric Company and EDF have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to produce cobalt-60 in selected pressurised water reactors owned and operated by EDF in France. The agreement is the first step towards production in Europe of the radioisotope for medical uses, the companies said.

Separate domestic and international initiatives to support the development and production of medical radioisotopes have been announced in Canada, Germany, Japan and the USA. These include a federal award of USD35 million to support the commercial production of molybdenum-99 in the USA; a new linear accelerator-based technique for production of actinium-225 in Japan; and a Canadian-German collaboration to explore the production of Ac-225.

Bruce Power yesterday announced the achievement of a new site generation peak and set a goal of achieving a site peak of 7000 MW by 2030 as it implements its Made in Ontario post-pandemic economic recovery plan. Production of medical isotopes is also part of the plan, and the company said it plans to carry out a harvest of the medical isotope cobalt-60 before the end of the year.

Orano has completed construction of a new laboratory for the production of stable isotopes at its Tricastin site. The French nuclear fuel cycle company said the laboratory - the first one of its kind in France - will begin operations in the second half of 2023.

Urenco Stable Isotopes has expanded its stable and medical isotopes facility in Almelo, the Netherlands, officially opening its new Leonardo da Vinci cascade yesterday. The company - a subsidiary of uranium enrichment company Urenco Nederland BV - said the move was in response to growing demand for medical isotopes.

A new nuclear medicine manufacturing facility will be built in Australia at Lucas Heights, the home of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. A ministerial announcement today launched the project, saying AUD30 million (USD12.8 million) would be spent on the facility's design.

The South African cabinet has approved the construction of the Multipurpose Reactor to succeed the Safari-1 research reactor which is located at Pelindaba. Safari-1's operator, Necsa, said the cabinet approval allows the lead-time needed to ensure radioisotope production is not interrupted. The company has also expressed its support for the recent approval by the country's energy regulator of a ministerial determination to procure new nuclear generation capacity.