September 30, 2021
A new production facility for nuclear medicine is being built in Lucas Heights, the seat of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO). A ministerial announcement today launched the project that would spend A $ 30 million ($ 12.8 million) on the design of the facility.
The research reactor OPAL produces a range of isotopes for medicine and industry (Image: ANSTO)
“Nuclear medicine is an integral part of an advanced health system and helps save lives – this is why we are acting to ensure reliable nuclear medicine care for future generations,” said Angus Taylor, Minister for Energy and Emissions and Acting Minister for Industry, Science and Technology.
ANSTO operates the 30 MWt OPAL research reactor and other facilities in Lucas Heights on the southern edge of Sydney. Taylor’s announcement said that ANSTO was producing between 10,000 and 12,000 doses of nuclear medicine every week, but the current factory was “near the end of its life”.
“The new facility will meet domestic demand for technetium, lutetium and iodine-based products and will have the flexibility to respond to market and technological changes,” said ANSTO. It will be possible for “greater process automation than with the existing technology, which will lead to improvements in efficiency, quality and, above all, the highest level of production reliability,” it said.
The A $ 30 million design phase is the first part of a “multi-step approach to replacing current facilities” in an overall project expected to take 8.5 years, ANSTO said.
Taylor added, “By funding the productive infrastructure that supports the delivery of nuclear medicine services, we are also investing in the future development of the industry and in highly skilled onshore jobs such as nuclear medicine researchers, developers and practitioners.”
A production facility for the medical isotope molybdenum-99 was completed in Lucas Heights in 2019 and operates alongside a facility that encapsulates liquid waste in Synroc.
Researched and written by World Nuclear News
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