SHINE Technologies has partnered with the Department of Energy to produce the medical isotope molybdenum-99 in the U.S. without using highly enriched uranium while meeting nuclear nonproliferation requirements.
SHINE will help establish a domestic supply chain of the isotope required in thousands of daily medical procedures in the U.S. under the Uranium Lease and Take-back Program, Los Alamos National Laboratory said Thursday.
As part of the program, the nuclear technology company signed separate contracts to borrow low-enriched uranium from the National Nuclear Security Administration for MO-99 production and return any resulting radioactive wastes that were not commercially disposed of to the Office of Environmental Management.
“Once SHINE begins production, our country will be that much closer to creating a reliable and sufficient supply of these life-saving materials right here at home, while also increasing nuclear security by reducing the use of highly enriched uranium,” explained Corey Hinderstein, deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation at NNSA.
The Uranium Lease and Take-back Program was mandated into existence by the American Medical Isotopes Production Act of 20212, which directs the DOE to loan uranium to domestic medical isotope producers.
