A new program, led by Laurentis Energy Partners and BWXT Medical Ltd. (BWXT Medical), to produce the medical isotope Molybdenum-99 for the first time ever in a power reactor, has gained momentum, receiving regulatory approval of the necessary licence from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC).

The CNSC approved an amendment to the operating licence for the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, owned and operated by Laurentis’s parent company, Ontario Power Generation (OPG).

Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) is a much-needed medical isotope that decays to technetium-99 metastable (Tc-99m), one of the most prevalently used (in over 40 million studies annually) diagnostic radionuclide in nuclear medicine.

On behalf of BWXT Medical, Laurentis will oversee this project at OPG’s Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. When the production system is operational, BWXT’s Peterborough operations will manufacture and deliver the molybdenum components to Darlington, OPG staff will operate the irradiation system, and BWXT Medical will process the Mo-99 and integrate it into Tc-99m generators for distribution throughout North America.

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Regulatory approval supports Laurentis’s program to produce the medical isotope Molybdenum-99 in Ontario for BWXT Medical

Source: CANADSIAN NUCLEAR ISOTOPE COUNCIL