Publication Laka-library:
2017 Medical Isotope Supply Review: Mo/Tc Market Demand and Production Capacity Projection 2017-2022
Author | OECD, NEA |
6-07-4-60-29.pdf | |
Date | April 2017 |
Classification | 6.07.4.60/29 (MISCELLANEOUS - RADIO ISOTOPES - NUCLEAR MEDICINE / MEDICAL APPLICATIONS ) |
Remarks | Available at OECD-NEA-site. |
Front |
From the publication:
NEA/SEN/HLGMR(2017)2 Chapter 1. Introduction Medical diagnostic imaging techniques using technetium-99m (99mTc) account for approximately 80% of all nuclear medicine procedures, representing 30-40 million examinations worldwide every year. Disruptions in the supply chain of these medical isotopes – which have half-lives of 66 hours for molybdenum-99 (99Mo) and only 6 hours for 99mTc, and thus must be produced continuously – can lead to cancellations or delays in important medical testing services. Supply reliability has been challenged over the past decade due to unexpected shutdowns and extended refurbishment periods at some of the 99Mo-producing research reactors and processing facilities. These shutdowns have at times created conditions for extended global supply shortages (e.g. 2009-2010). At the request of its member countries, the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) became involved in global efforts to ensure a secure supply of 99Mo/99mTc. Since June 2009, the NEA and its High-level Group on the Security of Supply of Medical Radioisotopes (HLG-MR) have examined the causes of supply shortages and developed a policy approach, including principles and supporting recommendations to address those causes. The NEA has reviewed the global 99Mo supply situation periodically, to highlight periods of potential reduced supply and to underscore the case for implementing the HLG-MR policy approach in a timely and globally consistent manner. In 2012, the NEA released a 99Mo supply and demand forecast up to 2030, identifying periods of potential low supply relative to demand. That 2012 forecast was updated with a report in 2014 that focused on the much shorter 2015-2020 period. That report was updated in 2015 and then in 2016 with a report, “2016 Medical Isotope Supply Review: 99 Mo/99mTc Market Demand and Production Capacity Projection 2016-2021” (NEA, 2016), which likewise focused on a six-year period. This report 1 updates the 2016 report, and focuses on the important 2017-2022 period that follows a period when some facilities have been removed from service. At the end of 2015, the OSIRIS reactor in France permanently shut down operations. At the end of October 2016, the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor in Canada ceased routine 99 Mo production and the associated processing capacity moved to a “hot standby” mode; they retain the capability to provide contingency capacity until the end of March 2018, but only in exceptional circumstances of an unplanned global shortage that cannot otherwise be mitigated. Additional reactor capacity and associated processing capacity from existing supply chain members were added during 2016, but non-reactor-based 99 Mo/99mTc projects that were anticipated to start in 2016 have not yet entered operation. It remains important to analyse the likely overall impact and timing of anticipated projects to understand how global production capacity may be affected. This report presents global irradiation and processing capacity under the same three main capacity scenarios as set out in the 2015 and 2016 reports. It is intended that it offers a high added value to the international community and the HLG-MR has