Supplies of Key Medical Isotopes Stable, but Vulnerabilities Remain

After nearly a decade of looming shortages, supplies of critical medical isotopes have stayed stable, but vulnerabilities remain, explained experts during a side event at the IAEA’s 61st General Conference today. The event focused on Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) and its daughter isotope Technetium-99m (Tc-99m), the most common radioactive isotopes used in medical diagnosis, and covered the current supply situation, new alternatives for their production and the role of the IAEA.

“Following the unforeseen disruptions in supplies, we assessed the likely supply situation in 2014 and, at that time, the risk of shortages was expected to get worse as of 2017,” said Kevin Charlton, a medical isotope expert and analyst from the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). “But now it’s 2017, and we can report that positive actions taken by the players in the supply chain have increased the production capacity of existing facilities, and the supply situation is now more stable.”

“Countries have worked with the IAEA for decades to research and develop ways to produce and use medical isotopes,” said Joao Osso, Head of the IAEA’s Radioisotope Products and Radiation Technology Section. “Several projects coordinated across the IAEA are now underway and aim to continue refining current methods and developing new, innovative approaches to ensuring life-saving isotopes keep reaching the people who need them.”

To read more please visit: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/supplies-of-key-medical-isotopes-stable-but-vulnerabilities-remain

Source: IAEA