Medical isotope firm Shine Medical Technologies announced it has reached a milestone in its development program with Phoenix Nuclear Labs by successfully producing 3 x 1011 neutrons per second with a deuterium-deuterium fusion reaction.
Meeting the milestone is a major step in validating Shine's technology for producing molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), according to the firm.
Most Mo-99 used in the U.S. has been produced in foreign nuclear reactors using a highly enriched uranium process, which is a nuclear proliferation threat. In collaboration with Shine, the Morgridge Institute for Research is working with the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration to develop a U.S. supply of Mo-99 produced without the use of highly enriched uranium to ensure that patients have continued access to diagnostic nuclear medicine procedures, Shine said.
Shine plans to build a production facility in Janesville, WI, that will produce more than half of the U.S. demand for Mo-99 by 2016. This new facility will use eight neutron generators manufactured by Phoenix Nuclear Labs, according to Shine.
