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Canadian Nuclear Reactor Pending Shut Down Threatens Radioisotope Supply

posted by takyon on Tuesday September 13 2016, @01:27AM   Printer-friendly
from the supply-demand-meltdown dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

[The reactor] produces about 20% of the world's supply of technetium; the rest comes from six other aging reactors in Europe, Australia and South Africa. These reactors bombard highly-enriched uranium targets to produce molybdenum-99, which decays into technetium. Stockpiling the radioisotopes is impossible because of their short half-lives — 66 hours for molybdenum-99, and six [hours] for technetium-99m. As a result, supply disruptions can quickly translate into shortages at hospitals, as happened when two reactors shut down for repairs and maintenance in 2009.

One of the most common medical uses for technetium is single-photo emission computed tomography (SPECT), which can be used to monitor blood flow in the heart and brain and scan bones for tumours.

[...] The United States currently provides the bulk of the world's [highly-enriched uranium] targets but plans to halt shipments of highly enriched uranium by 2020. However, Russia has indicated that it may begin production of molybdenum-99 in the future, and has not yet committed to using [low-enriched uranium] targets.

http://www.nature.com/news/reactor-shutdown-threatens-world-s-medical-isotope-supply-1.20577
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-photon_emission_computed_tomography

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  • (Score: 1) by driven on Tuesday September 13 2016, @03:35AM

    by driven (6295) on Tuesday September 13 2016, @03:35AM (#401104)

    More information on why they are shutting it down: World's oldest operating reactor, in Chalk River, to close in 2018 [ottawacitizen.com]

    Quoting:

    The government weighed several competing factors in its decision to shut down the world’s oldest operating nuclear reactor, including the impact on Canada’s nuclear energy sector.

    A report last year by the Public Policy Forum, based on a consensus of close to 100 nuclear experts, said that without a strong nuclear research and development capacity led by National Research Universal (NRU), it will be difficult for Canada to maintain a strong nuclear sector.

    On the other hand, several expensive and high-profile breakdowns in recent years have fuelled speculation about the reactor’s long-term viability and safety.

    What’s more, extending NRU isotope production past 2016 reneges on a commitment Canada made at last year’s global nuclear security summit to cease NRU production using highly enriched, weapons-grade (HEU) uranium.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 13 2016, @05:41AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 13 2016, @05:41AM (#401144)

    not to be confused with the NRX reactor at the same site, which had a melt-down in 1952 [cnn.com] that was rated 5 on the International Nuclear Events Scale