Even with U.S. use of molybdenum-99 dropping in recent years, the nation faces a shortage of the crucial medical isotope when Canada’s National Research Universal reactor halts production next month, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
The report also found somewhat halting global efforts to minimize and ultimately end use of nuclear weapon-usable highly enriched uranium in production of moly-99. Observers fear terrorists would be able to breach the civilian faciliteis in order to obtain material for attacks.
Moly-99 is used in production of technetium-99m, which is used widely in noninvasive medical imaging. About half of the global use occurs in the United States. A National Academies committee, preparing the report under a congressional mandate, found that U.S. demand of the isotopes is down by roughly one-quarter from 2009-2010 to 2014-2015, and is unlikely to significantly rise over the next half-decade. Nonetheless, according to the report, “The committee judges that there is a substantial (>50 percent) likelihood of severe Mo-99/Tc-99m supply shortages after October 2016, when Canada stops supplying Mo-99, lasting at least until current global Mo-99 suppliers complete their planned capacity expansions (planned for 2017) and substantial new domestic Mo-99 supplies enter the market (not likely until 2018 and beyond).”
Seven reactors in Australia, Canada, Europe, and South Africa currently provide 95 percent of the global supply of moly-99. These suppliers have pledged to halt use of HEU in reactor targets and isotope production, and are receiving funding from teh U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration and technical assistance from the U.S. national laboratories, the report says. However, “progress is also being impeded by the continued availability of Mo-99 produced with HEU targets.”
The National Academies committee recommended that stakeholder governments further encourage broader use of moly-99 and technetium-99m manufactured without HEU targets and to address the proliferation threat posed by HEU-laden waste from psat isotope production.
