Eden Radioisotopes has filed a Construction Permit Application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for its isotope production complex.
The Albuquerque-based company said the facility will be located near Eunice, NM, and is designed to produce up to 50% of global demand for molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), the parent isotope of technetium-99m, which is used in more than 40,000 diagnostic imaging procedures performed daily in the U.S. It would also produce lutetium-177, copper-64, and terbium-161, with capacity for more than 3.5 million annual doses of therapeutic isotopes, according to Eden.
The U.S. currently imports all of its Mo-99 from foreign reactors. Because the isotope decays within hours to days of production, supply disruptions abroad can result in immediate cancellation of domestic patient procedures, the company noted.
Eden's reactor concept is exclusively licensed from Sandia National Laboratories and is designed to generate no spent fuel, the firm said. The company said it expects a 12-month NRC review timeline.
