NRC Issues SHINE EIS

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued yesterday its environmental impact statement for the SHINE Medical planned medical isotope facility in Janesville, Wis. The NRC Staff recommended “that a construction permit be issued to SHINE, unless safety issues mandate otherwise,” according to a release. The NRC still needs to look at the technical construction plans, but according to the EIS, the facility “would not affect the potential environmental impacts from construction, operation and decommissioning of the SHINE facility.” SHINE is one of several companies trying to create a domestic supply of the medical isotope used in millions of procedures annually. With Canada set to stop government spending in 2016 on the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor, one of the world’s largest suppliers of molybdenum-99 and technetium-99m, the medical isotope industry is expecting a shortage in the market in the coming years. NRU’s anticipated shutdown has led to a slew of startups looking to fill the lucrative medical isotope void—eight-to-nine companies have already sent the Nuclear Regulatory Commission letters of intent to submit construction authorization licenses for a potential Mo-99 production facility. Most of the companies have a timeline to reach production capabilities between late 2016 and early 2017, but regulatory hurdles still remain for many of the companies.