Leu based Mo-99 production facility using the Open Pool Australian Light-Water (OPAL) reactor

Full text: ARI currently manufactures Mo-99 in the HIFAR reactor by irradiating uranium dioxide pellets. Whilst this process is old and inefficient, it has enabled ARI to successfully supply Tc99m generators to meet the needs of the Australian nuclear medicine community. Along with the new OPAL reactor, ARI is introducing a new Mo-99 production process. Due to global threat reduction and non-proliferation concerns, this new process will be a low enriched uranium (LEU) process. The facility will provide improved efficiencies for Mo-99 production and greatly increase production capacity. A small-scale production plant will be established and the objective of the plant is twofold: to increase production capacity for both the Australian and Asian-Pacific markets and, to serve as a test platform for a much larger scale commercial Mo-99 production which could take advantage of the total OPAL irradiation capacity. Initially, the plant will have a capacity 4 times greater than the current HIFAR based production. Currently the USA and European radiopharmaceutical manufacturers rely on a supply of highly enriched uranium (HEU) to produce targets for the production of Mo-99 and other radionuclides. The new Australian LEU-based Mo-99 production process will be unique in the global marketplace