Accelerator-based Alternatives to Non-HEU production of Mo-99/Tc-99m

Owing to the shortage of 99Mo caused by the unexpected prolonged shutdown of the Chalk River and Petten reactors in 2007, the need to explore alternative methods of producing technetium radioisotopes, which would allow continued use of all existing radiopharmaceuticals designed for 99mTc in nuclear medicine in case of another shortage, has gained significant interest. There are several potential methods for the production of Tc-99m from accelerators. These have been explored in a recent publication “The Supply of Medical Radioisotopes: Review of Potential Molybdenum-99/Technetim-99m Production Technologies” produced by the Nuclear Energy Agency of OECD.A large number of the Member States now have or are planning to have cyclotrons for the production of radioisotopes and several of them have embarked on research programs to investigate the use of accelerators for the production of Mo-99 or Tc-99m directly. In continuing with this approach, the present CRP seeks to enhance the Member States capabilities for the production of Tc-99m using accelerators. The focus of this CRP is the development of accelerator based alternatives to the conventional Molybdenum-99 (99Mo)/Technetium-99m (99mTc) generator.  This may include, but is not limited to, building a high-efficiency target for production of 99mTc, implementing automated methods to extract and purify 99mTc, assessing the suitability of the technetium radioisotope for eventual human use, performing dosimetry calculations to estimate radiation dose to the patient from potential radionuclidic impurities, and finally comparing the image quality of standard 99mTc-radiopharmaceuticals prepared using cyclotron-produced pertechnetate with commercial generator produced 99mTc for imaging assays in animals.