Are Medical Radioisotopes Contributing to Global Nuclear Insecurity (original) (raw)

How the Radiologic and Nuclear Medical Communities Can Improve Nuclear Security

Journal of the American College of Radiology, 2007

Highly enriched uranium (HEU) is used to manufacture technetium-99m, the most widely used medical radioisotope in the world. Highly enriched uranium is also used to make nuclear bombs; 50 kg of HEU is enough to make a Hiroshima-type bomb. It is generally agreed that this technology is within the reach of a terrorist group; the main obstacle is acquiring HEU. Currently, as a legacy of the US and Soviet Atoms for Peace Program, there are civilian users of HEU in 40 countries, and about 1,000 kg are still being shipped each year. Unfortunately, the major international manufacturers of technetium-99m have been refusing to convert their production facilities to use low-enriched uranium (LEU), which cannot be used to make a nuclear bomb. Only 1% to 2% of the HEU is consumed in the process of producing technetium-99m. The remainder is accumulating in radioactive waste storage facilities. The radiologic and nuclear medical communities could make a tremendous contribution to a safer world by supporting the replacement of HEU with LEU in the production of technetium-99m. Low-enriched uranium is just as cost effective as HEU for the manufacture of technetium-99m and does not contribute to the risk for nuclear terrorism.

Radioisotopes in Medicine: Preparing a Technetium-99m Generator and Determining Its Efficiency

Journal of Chemical Education, 2006

Many students enrolled in college chemistry courses eventually pursue careers as health care professionals. Many health care professionals, either directly or indirectly, rely on the use of radiopharmaceuticals as tools for diagnostics and therapy. For example, nuclear diagnostic medicine involves the introduction of small quantities of a radioisotope incorporated within a carrier molecule into the patient's blood stream. Selective accumulation of the radioisotope in specifically targeted organs in the body is achieved through the design of the carrier molecule. The radioisotope emits gamma radiation, which allows the organs to be imaged using a gamma camera. Diagnostic images of the human heart, bones, brain, liver, kidneys, spleen, lungs, and blood flow are routinely produced in a noninvasive manner with relative ease.

The medical isotope crisis: how we got here and where we are going

Journal of nuclear medicine technology, 2014

Complete the test online no later than December 2017. Your online test will be scored immediately. You may make 3 attempts to pass the test and must answer 80% of the questions correctly to receive 1.0 CEH (Continuing Education Hour) credit. SNMMI members will have their CEH credit added to their VOICE transcript automatically; nonmembers will be able to print out a CE certificate upon successfully completing the test. The online test is free to SNMMI members; nonmembers must pay $15.00 by credit card when logging onto the website to take the test. 99m Tc is the most widely used radionuclide in nuclear medicine. The reactor stoppages that occurred in recent years illustrated the vulnerability of the availability of radiotracers for imaging. With many of the reactors due for shutdown over the next 5-10 y, alternative routes to producing the 99 Mo/ 99m Tc pair are being explored. This brief review examines how we have reached this situation and what the near and distant future holds for securing the availability of these radioisotopes.

Nuclear Medicine's Double Hazard

The Nonproliferation Review, 2008

This article examines the production of metastable technetium-99 (Tc-99m), the world's most important radiopharmaceutical, focusing on reliability of supply and risks of nuclear terrorism. Only four producers manufactured about 95 percent of the world's Tc-99m; a closure of any of them could cause worldwide shortfalls. Moreover, all four employ highly enriched uranium in their production process, in a form relatively easy to convert into the metal needed for a nuclear bomb. The technology to employ low-enriched uranium (LEU)*not usable in weapons*to produce Tc-99m is proven, available, and has been used by smaller producers. However, political determination and sufficient funding are needed to convert the major producers' isotope production to LEU and encourage new LEU-based production. Such efforts are needed to ensure supplies and reduce security risks.

Proliferation risks of highly enriched uranium (HEU) used for medical isotope production

To assess the proliferation threat from medical isotope production, the amount of required HEU has been estimated by analysing the world wide consumption of the most common medical isotope, Tc-99m, and calculating the related irradiation procedure. The results of this method are compared with other estimations and the influence of different parameters is analysed, showing that the HEU use for Tc-99m production most likely amounts to about 15 kg per year. The lower estimate is 10 kg/a, the upper bound is 100 kg/a. Most of the excess uranium undergoes liquid storage awaiting its disposal as waste instead of recycling, posing a proliferation threat.

Wanted: Medical Isotopes: Overcoming a critical scarcity of radioactive materials for research

Science News, 1999

Mark Greedlnternational Isotopes Inc artin Brechbiel had promising results indicating that a radioactive isotope called bismuth-212 could destroy cancers in laboratory animals. Yet his work at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., stopped short in April 1998 when his radioisotope s u p ply suddenly dried up. Alan R. Fritzberg at NeoRx Corp. in Seattle had also been successfully using bismuth-212 to treat cancers in animal experiments. His work, too, was stopped. The Department of Energy's Argonne (Ill.) National Laboratory had ceased making the generators that hold radium-224, which decays into lead-212. This isotope eventually decays into the therapeutically active bismuth. After a 17-month hiatus, DOE arranged for the University of Chicago to send a single generator for Brechbiel's experiments. He will need more. Fritzberg received an extension of his research grant but is still waiting to receive a generator. Each year, U.S. physicians employ radioisotopes in an estimated 13 million nuclear-medicine procedures and another 100 million laboratory tests. Most of these activities rely on only a few nuclides, principally iodine131 and technetium99m. During the past 5 years, the goals of

Future Supply of Medical Radioisotopes for the UK Report 2014

The UK has no research nuclear reactors and relies on the importation of 99Mo and other medical radioisotopes (e.g. Iodine-131) from overseas (excluding PET radioisotopes). The UK is therefore vulnerable not only to global shortages, but to problems with shipping and importation of the products. In this context Professor Erika Denton UK national Clinical Director for Diagnostics requested that the British Nuclear Medicine Society lead a working group with stakeholders including representatives from the Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) to prepare a report. The group had a first meeting on 10 April 2013 followed by a working group meeting with presentations on 9th September 2013 where the scope of the work required to produce a report was agreed. The objectives of the report are: to describe the status of the use of medical radioisotopes in the UK; to anticipate the potential impact of shortages for the UK; to assess potential alternative avenues of medical radioisotope ...