Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the
2005 International RERTR Meeting
THE RADIOPHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY’S EFFORT TO MIGRATE TOWARD Mo-99 PRODUCTION UTILIZING LEU
R.W. Brown
Senior Director, Federal Affairs
Council on Radiopharmaceuticals and Radionuclides (CORAR)
ABSTRACT
The U.S. and European radiopharmaceutical manufacturers rely on a steady supply of HEU to produce targets for the production of Mo-99, I-131 and other radionuclides. Due to nonproliferation concerns, the future availability of HEU for target production is uncertain. The industry in Europe and North America continue to explore ways that HEU can be replaced by newer technology including the use of LEU targets in conventional reactors, as well as solution reactor designs utilizing LEU. At the conclusion of the RERTR meeting in Vienna in 2004, the IAEA conducted a Consultancy Services Meeting focusing on ways to provide LEU or (n,γ) molybdenum target technology to countries who were considering indigenous production. The nuclear medicine community supports non-proliferation of HEU and its eventual replacement by LEU for the production of radionuclides. We are also committed to ensure a reliable supply of radionuclides used to produce radiopharmaceuticals. The radionuclide production industry is therefore seeking methods to develop and phase in the use of LEU without disrupting the supply of radiopharmaceuticals or causing a financial barrier to their use by nuclear medicine physicians. When feasible and economical methods are developed using LEU, that can assure reliable production of medical radionuclides in such large-scale commercial quantities capable of meeting the growing supply demands of the market, the industry is committed to rapidly converting to use of the new technology.
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Contact:
Dr. Jordi Roglans-Ribas
Technical Director, RERTR Department
Nuclear Engineering Division – 362
Argonne National Laboratory
9700 South Cass Avenue
Argonne, IL 60439
Fax: +1 630-252-5161