BWXT Technologies said Wednesday that a subsidiary of Canadian utility Ontario Power Generation (OPG) would provide irradiation services for a new medical isotope production program.
In May, the Lynchburg, Va.-based company announced commercial development of generators for technetium-99m, an isotope used each year in more than 30 million medical procedures globally, including medical imaging for cancers and heart and lung disease.
Technetium-99m is the decay product of another isotope, molybdenum-99. Irradiation of molybdenum targets is part of the production process. While a final deal is still being negotiated, BWXT said in a press release that OPG’s Canadian Nuclear Partners would irradiate targets at CANDU reactors in the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Ontario. BWXT would then process those targets to manufacture technetium-99m generators.
“CANDU’s unique design and BWXT’s patent-pending technology enables the insertion and removal of medical isotope targets into the reactor(s) while in operation, ensuring OPG’s ability to irradiate targets on a highly reliable basis,” according to the BWXT press release.
Following approval by Canadian regulators, the Darlington plant should begin irradiation services before the close of 2019, the companies said.
The United States has no domestic capacity for molybdenum-99 manufacturing, and production at Canada’s National Research Universal reactor effectively stopped in 2016, according to an OPG press release. That put North America at the mercy of supplies from Europe, Africa, and Asia.
