Jeremy L. Dillon
NS&D Monitor
10/23/2015
The National Nuclear Security Administration has contributed an additional $11.75 million to NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes as the company works toward commercialization of its molybdenum-99 production technology. The contribution is part of one cost-sharing agreement as the NNSA supports companies looking to provide a steady supply of the medical isotope used in millions of procedures every year. Of the contribution, $8.86 million will support NorthStar’s neutron capture production process, while the other $2.89 million will go toward the company’s accelerator production process.
“These awards are clear indications of the progress that NorthStar is making toward bringing a viable domestic supply of Mo-99 to the United States – something we have not had since 1990," NorthStar President and CEO George Messina said in a statement. “They are significant milestones toward ensuring that medical professionals here have reliable access to this vital isotope, enabling them to make accurate diagnoses and conduct important research, while also addressing important safety and national security concerns.”
Through the cost-sharing agreement, the NNSA had previously provided $5.7 million to NorthStar’s efforts, which the company has matched. Similar to other Department of Energy/NNSA cost-sharing agreements, NNSA is matching NorthStar funding dollar for dollar and each agreement is capped at $50 million ($25 million each) in total funds from both parties, the company said.
Mo-99 has typically been produced outside the U.S. by government-subsidized efforts using proliferation-sensitive highly enriched uranium. But the NNSA has instituted a cost-sharing agreement with four other companies besides NorthStar in its efforts to jump-start a domestic supply.
Two of the companies involved in the NNSA’s cost-sharing program, GE Hitachi and B&W, have halted their Mo-99 production development efforts due to market viability concerns. However, the remaining companies, SHINE Medical, NorthStar, and General Atomic, expect to begin production sometime near the end of 2016 or early 2017, depending on how quickly they can navigate the regulatory process.
SHINE Also Receives Additional Funding
The NNSA also granted an additional $1 million to SHINE as the company tries to finalize the construction permit process with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. That brings the SHINE cost-sharing agreement to a total of $30 million, with $15 million coming from the NNSA. According to a company press release, “The award will be used to advance work being done by SHINE as it enters the final stages of the construction permitting process with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The construction permit is a major milestone SHINE must reach before it can begin construction of its manufacturing facility in Janesville, Wisconsin.”
Meanwhile, SHINE took a positive step forward in navigating the regulatory process when the NRC this week issued its environmental impact statement for its planned medical isotope facility in Janesville, Wis. The NRC staff recommended “that a construction permit be issued to SHINE, unless safety issues mandate otherwise,” according to a release from the NRC. The NRC still needs to look at the technical construction plans, but according to the EIS, the facility “would not affect the potential environmental impacts from construction, operation and decommissioning of the SHINE facility.”
