Jane Edwards
BWX Technologies’ medical business and Laurentis Energy Partners have completed the installation and preliminary commissioning of a system in Ontario, Canada, designed to produce a medical isotope called Molybdenum-99.
The installation of the Target Delivery System at Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington Nuclear Generating Station will facilitate the manufacturing of Mo-99, which is used to produce Technetium-99 metastable or Tc-99m, a diagnostic imaging agent used in nuclear medicine and can be used to detect cancer, heart disease and other illnesses, BWXT said Wednesday.
The BWXT Medical-Laurentis team will continue the commissioning and preparation work to advance commercial Mo-99 manufacturing, pending completion of validation activities and approval from Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“Completing the installation of the TDS at Darlington is a significant milestone for the Laurentis and BWXT team,” said Jonathan Cirtain, president and CEO of BWXT Medical.
Cirtain added that the partnership leverages BWXT’s proprietary neutron capture process and production technology, the expertise of Laurentis and OPG in providing irradiation services and Darlington’s operational reliability.
BWXT said the newly installed TDS is expected to generate enough supply of Mo-99 to meet the existing and future demand for the medical isotope in North America.
