Some Illawarra residents are facing delays for vital diagnostic scans due to a continuing nationwide shortage of nuclear medicine.
Australia's only nuclear reactor, at Lucas Heights, halted production of the radioisotope known as molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) after a mechanical fault at the facility on September 6.
Mo-99 is used in 85 per cent of nuclear medicine scans to diagnose cancer, heart disease and other abnormalities. It's also needed to produce Technetium-99m, a radioactive tracer which is injected in patients to diagnose a variety of health conditions including heart, lung, organ and muscular-skeletal conditions.
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Source: Illawarramercury