U.S.
SHINE Medical Technologies, which recently won federal approval to build a medical isotope facility in Wisconsin, announced this week the successful operation of an accelerator-based neutron generator for 132 consecutive hours with greater than 97 percent uptime.
The test run, which was completed March 14-19 in Wisconsin, is an industry first for extended operation of a gas neutron generator, according to a company press release. SHINE has partnered with Phoenix Nuclear Labs, the company that will build neutron generators for SHINE’s eight medical isotope production units at the Janesville facility, which is scheduled to begin operation in 2019.
According to Phoenix Nuclear Labs, the neutrons generated by the equipment drive fission in a subcritical low-enriched uranium solution. That solution is irradiated for about a week, after which the medical isotopes are extracted, purified, and packaged for sale.
“This accomplishment is the result of over ten years of development effort by our dedicated and talented technical team,” Phoenix Nuclear Labs President Ross Radel said in the release. “We’ve demonstrated record neutron yield, and this achievement validates that our technology can run with unprecedented reliability on the time scales necessary for highly efficient and stable isotope production by our partner SHINE.”
After receiving Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval last month to build the plant, SHINE is ahead of two other companies, Northwest Medical Isotopes and Coqui RadioPharmaceuticals Corp., in a race to become the first American commercial producer of molybdenum-99, a medical isotope used in imaging procedures for cancer, heart disease, and bone and kidney disease. According to the release, neutron generators must run 132-hour cycles in order to ensure patients “receive critically important doses on time.”
The Department of Energy is set to host a public meeting at noon on Tuesday in Chicago, one of several sessions the department is holding in an effort to gather feedback on the consent-based siting process for U.S. nuclear waste.
Late last year DOE announced a three-phase siting process for storing America’s spent nuclear waste. The plan envisions a pilot facility, interim facilities, and eventually one or more permanent repositories for holding America’s nuclear waste. DOE held its kick-off meeting in Washington, D.C. in January.
Chicago’s meeting, to be held at the University of Chicago’s Gleacher Center, will include appearances by DOE acting Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy John Kotek, as well as local officials and industry experts. Those include Zion, Ill., Mayor Al Hill, Nuclear Energy Information Service Director David Kraft; Illinois Commerce Commissioner Ann McCabe; and Kim Wasserman-Nieto with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization.
INTERNATIONAL
A new approach to purchasing cranes at the Sellafield site will save U.K. taxpayers £53 million while also increasing the pace of the 100-year decommissioning at the site.
In a press release Thursday, Sellafield Ltd. said it is ordering standardized crane modules, which can be assembled on-site, rather than buying “one-off bespoke cranes.”
Sellafield Ltd. has contracted international joint venture Reel/Ansaldo NES for up to 34 in-cell cranes, while also reaching an agreement with Spanish company Taim Weser for 24 out-cell cranes. In-cell cranes are “overhead cranes designed for use in highly active areas of the site,” according to the press release. Out-cell/nuclear lift cranes are overhead cranes for lifting and moving large nuclear packages.
”Previously, when we needed a high integrity crane at Sellafield, a bespoke model had to be produced,” Sellafield Ltd. Commercial Director Robert Astall said in a statement. “This meant much time and cost was taken up on the design, inspection and testing of one-off solutions for broadly common requirements. Using category management principles, we have developed one standard crane for the two major requirements on site – in cell and out cell – with nine possible variations.”
