Archiv: Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) / used in 40 million medical procedures annually /Technetium-99m (99mTc) / created by fission of highly enriched uranium in civil nuclear reactors


27.06.2025 - 04:28 [ NPR.org ]

Forget ‚total obliteration‘ — experts say Iran and U.S. need to negotiate

Iran has limited its interaction with IAEA inspectors for several years, although they were still allowed to monitor declared nuclear sites. On Wednesday, Iran‘s parliament recommended a bill that effectively suspended cooperation with the agency. On Thursday, the country‘s Guardian Council fully approved it.

Iran has made clear that the suspension does not mean it will pull out of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, but it will prevent IAEA inspections of Iran‘s bombed nuclear facilities.

„The Iranian regime has invested decades in its nuclear program and also an unparalleled amount of resources,“ says Stroul, of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. „So to think that after less than two weeks, they are just going to take a knee and abandon their entire nuclear ambitions is likely a short sighted approach.“

23.06.2025 - 19:04 [ BR.de ]

Reaktor Garching darf mit hochangereichertem Uran weiterlaufen

(Juni 21, 2024)

Im Garchinger Forschungsreaktor werden normalerweise wissenschaftliche Experimente – etwa im Bereich Quantentechnologie oder Archäologie – durchgeführt. Daneben produzieren Kunden aus der Industrie zum Beispiel Radioisotope und Radiopharmaka für die Krebsdiagnostik und -behandlung. Die TUM verweist aber etwa auch darauf, dass Forschende des späteren Corona-Impfstoffherstellers „Biontech“ in der Garchinger Neutronenquelle mRNA-Partikel untersucht hätten.

15.06.2025 - 17:28 [ Krankenkassen.de ]

Forschungsreaktor darf mit hochangereichertem Uran weiterlaufen

(Juni 2024)

Der Forschungsreaktor war im Jahr 2004 als eine der wichtigsten
Neutronenquellen Europas für Forschung, Medizin und Industrie in
Betrieb gegangen. Der Betrieb mit bis zu 93 Prozent angereichertem
Uran war bis Ende 2010 genehmigt, dann sollte auf maximal 50 Prozent
umgestellt werden. Mangels dieses Brennstoffs wurde der Betrieb bis
jetzt aber von den Behörden weiter genehmigt.

«Es geht hier um extrem wichtige Forschungsinfrastruktur für Bayern,
Deutschland und Europa», betonte Minister Blume. Die in Garching
gewonnene kerntechnische Expertise sei beispielsweise entscheidend
für medizinischen Fortschritt.

15.06.2025 - 17:23 [ BR.de ]

Reaktor Garching darf mit hochangereichertem Uran weiterlaufen

(Juni 21, 2024)

Im Garchinger Forschungsreaktor werden normalerweise wissenschaftliche Experimente – etwa im Bereich Quantentechnologie oder Archäologie – durchgeführt. Daneben produzieren Kunden aus der Industrie zum Beispiel Radioisotope und Radiopharmaka für die Krebsdiagnostik und -behandlung. Die TUM verweist aber etwa auch darauf, dass Forschende des späteren Corona-Impfstoffherstellers „Biontech“ in der Garchinger Neutronenquelle mRNA-Partikel untersucht hätten.

15.06.2025 - 17:09 [ Tehran Times ]

Iran reaffirms commitment to peaceful nuclear development despite attacks

In a post on its official account on the social platform X, the AEOI declared: „Iran stands firm… Relying on the determination of our nuclear scientists, we will continue the path of developing peaceful nuclear technology with strength and resolve. The cowardly attacks by enemies are no match for the will of this nation.“

04.06.2025 - 17:37 [ International Atomic Energy Agency ]

How Research Reactors Help Make Medical Imaging Possible

(August 10, 2020)

From reactor to patients

Research reactors are reactors that, instead of generating electricity, are primarily used to produce neutrons for other applications. These neutrons can be used for various purposes, such as to produce 99Mo by irradiating uranium-235 targets.

Being a radioisotope, 99Mo is an unstable atom that undergoes decay. It takes 66 hours for half of any 99Mo produced to decay — this is known as its half-life. The decay product of 99Mo, also called its ‘daughter product’, is 99mTc.

To get 99mTc, the irradiated uranium-235 targets are moved to a processing installation, usually near a research reactor, to separate 99Mo from the other fission products and purify it. The purified 99Mo is then transported to a production facility for 99Mo/99mTc generators — devices used to safely hold, transport and chemically extract 99mTc from 99Mo directly on site at a hospital or other medical facility.

04.06.2025 - 17:33 [ Shinefusion.com ]

What Is Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99)?

Our fusion-based medical isotope production system produces high-specific-activity molybdenum-99 using a proprietary fusion-fission process, without the need for a conventional reactor and the use of inefficient highly enriched uranium. We believe that our production of Mo-99 in the United States will mitigate, if not prevent chronic shortages by producing the isotope in an efficient, clean, low-cost manner compatible with the existing radioisotope supply chain.

What is molybdenum-99 used for?

Molybdenum-99 is the parent isotope of technetium-99m, a gamma-emitting isotope used as a radioactive tracer in medical imaging procedures such as SPECT scans. Tech-99m is used in tens of millions of medical diagnostic procedures around the world every year. It is a critical medical tool for diagnosing heart disease, bone disease, and cancer.

Tech-99m has a very short half-life; of any given supply, nearly all of it will decay in under a day. Its short half-life makes it extremely useful as a tracer, but also makes it impossible to stockpile

04.06.2025 - 17:23 [ Tehran Times ]

Leader: Iran’s nuclear enrichment is none of America’s business

The United States has been claiming that Iran can import nuclear fuel for its reactors. However, the Leader said the United States is not trustworthy, saying the U.S. refused to sell 20-percent enriched uranium to Iran to power its medical reactor in the 2000s.

“In the 2000s, we experienced firsthand how unreliable the U.S. was when it came to supplying 20% enriched fuel,” Ayatollah Khamenei pointed out, indirectly referring to Iran‘s need to nuclear fuel to power its Tehran medical reactor.

He said, “The core demand of the U.S. is that Iran should not have a nuclear industry and should remain dependent on them. Our response to America’s nonsense is clear: they can’t do a damn thing about it.”