Nuclear Medicine Material Unaffected by Japan Plant, Doctor Says
Steven Meikle, a professor of medical imaging physics at the University of Sydney, said the supply of material used in medical imaging and radiation oncology aren’t affected by the nuclear power plant shutdowns in Japan.
Meikle commented in an e-mailed response to questions today.
On the nuclear medicine materials:
“There is no effect on radioisotope supply for medical use; the affected reactors in Japan are for power generation only.
‘‘There have been recent problems with the supply of medical radioisotopes due to scheduled and unscheduled shutdowns of the two main reactors that supply the world market, but these problems have since been largely resolved.’’
On the types of materials used for nuclear medicine:
‘‘The most common radioisotope is technetium-99m, which accounts for about 80 percent of all nuclear medicine studies worldwide. Technetium-99m is a product of molybdenum-99, which is produced in reactors.
‘‘The remaining 20 percent are a variety of radioisotopes that are either made in a reactor, for example iodine-131, or a cyclotron, for example thallium-201.’’
On the main sources of these materials:
‘‘The main source of medical radioisotopes is the Chalk River reactor in Canada, and the Petten reactor in the Netherlands.
‘‘The Opal reactor in Australia supplies the domestic market and several countries in the Southeast Asian region and there is a reactor in South Africa that also produces molybdenum-99.
‘‘Both these reactors have the potential to supply a significant part of the world market in the future, but currently the Canadian and Dutch reactors are the main global sources of molybdenum-99 and other medical radioisotopes.’’
To contact the reporter on this story: Adi Narayan in Mumbai at anarayan8@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jason Gale at j.gale@bloomberg.net
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