US Radiopharmaceuticals (USR) and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO) have announced plans to build a technetium-99m (Tc-99m) generator production facility in Denton, TX.
Under terms of the agreement, US Radiopharmaceuticals will become the first U.S. generator manufacturer using molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) sourced from low-enriched uranium for 100% of its generators, USR and ANSTO said. Mo-99 is the parent isotope of Tc-99m, the most widely used radioisotope for diagnostic nuclear imaging procedures.
USR has secured long-term supply contracts guaranteeing year-around availability of LEU Mo-99 from ANSTO's Open Pool Australian Lightwater (OPAL) nuclear reactor in Australia and NTP Radioisotopes' Safari-1 reactor in South Africa.
The USR Tc-99m generator plant is scheduled to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2013.
