Publication Laka-library:
Working materials Consultancy on Conversion planning for Mo-99 Production facilities from HEU to LEU

AuthorIAEA
6-07-4-60-21.pdf
DateAugust 2010
Classification 6.07.4.60/21 (MISCELLANEOUS - RADIO ISOTOPES - NUCLEAR MEDICINE / MEDICAL APPLICATIONS )
Front

From the publication:

                                Working materials
                                  Consultancy on




       Conversion Planning for
    Mo-99 Production Facilities from
             HEU to LEU
                                    (10CT11937)

                                        Organized by


                     International Atomic Energy Agency,
                               Vienna, Austria


                                  24 – 27 August 2010
                            IAEA Headquarters, Vienna, Austria




NOTE
The views expressed remain the responsibility of the named participants and do not
necessarily reflect those of the government(s) of the designating Member State(s). In
particular, neither the IAEA nor any other organization or body sponsoring the meeting can be
held responsible for this material.




                                                                                  1 of 29
                                        FOREWORD
Technetium 99m (Tc-99m), the daughter product of Molybdenum 99 (Mo-99), is the most
commonly utilized medical radioisotope in the world, used for well over 30 million medical
diagnostic procedures annually and comprising some 80% of all diagnostic nuclear medicine
procedures. Until 2010, approximately 95% of Mo-99 consumed worldwide is produced in
research, test or isotope production reactors by irradiation of Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU)
targets that are subsequently processed primarily to recover Mo-99. There are mainly four
large-scale commercial processors of Mo-99 (i.e. 1000 6-day curie or more per week), three of
them utilizing HEU targets and dedicated processing facilities, while a fourth, (NTP/SAFARI-1,
South Africa) is converting its process to Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) and a fifth producer
(OPAL, ANSTO, Australia) is expanding current LEU-based production.

In line with the international objective of minimizing and eventually eliminating the use of
HEU in civil commerce, national and international e