Distributed production system for {sup 99m}Tc-I: System overview
- Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Lab., Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Technetium-99m is the radioisotope of choice for >80% of all nuclear medical imaging procedures today in the United States. There are > 12 million {sup 99m}Tc scans performed in the United States per year. Since the development of fission-based radio nuclide generators for {sup 99}Mo, {sup 99m}Tc use has grown steadily over the past 20 yr. Despite the widespread demand for {sup 99m}Tc in medicine, a reliable and assured supply of the parent, {sup 99}Mo, does not exist. Construction of Maple-1 and -2, two new Canadian isotope production reactors intended to replace the aging National Research Universal (NRU) reactor, has been approved in an agreement among Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, MDS Nordion, and the Canadian government. However, the project is expensive: The anticipated cost of Maple-1 and -2 is $C140 million. Outlays toward this cost have recently driven the price of {sup 99}Mo up by 40%, even though the Canadian {sup 99}Mo production will continue to be heavily subsidized by an interest-free construction loan. Research and development for an accelerator-based facility has been undertaken and is described.
- OSTI ID:
- 552683
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-971125-; ISSN 0003-018X; TRN: 98:001889
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Vol. 77; Conference: 1997 American Nuclear Society (ANS) winter meeting, Albuquerque, NM (United States), 16-20 Nov 1997; Other Information: PBD: 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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