Morning Briefing - February 18, 2016
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February 18, 2016

NNSA Establishes Program for Commercial LEU-Based Medical Isotope Production

By ExchangeMonitor

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in January established a uranium lease and take-back (ULTB) program for the commercial production of medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) using low-enriched uranium (LEU). The goal, the NNSA said this week, is to give commercial producers of the isotope access to Department of Energy (DOE) LEU from its excess uranium inventory for Mo-99 production in the U.S., while avoiding the use of highly enriched uranium that is vulnerable to proliferation. Supply agreements negotiated through the program would make the LEU available to Mo-99 producers, which would then arrange for the transport of the LEU to their facilities.

The DOE will also be responsible for the spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste created from LEU irradiation, processing, or purification through take-back contracts, the agency said. It noted that the NNSA is supporting four Mo-99 production projects with up to $25 million given for each, and that the ULTB program is managed by both the NNSA’s Material Management and Minimization and the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management programs.

Mo-99’s radioactive decay product is used in the majority of medical nuclear diagnostic imaging procedures, around 50,000 procedures in the U.S. every day, the NNSA said. Anne Harrington, the agency’s deputy administration for defense nuclear nonproliferation, said in a statement that the ULTB program “will provide services needed to make new, commercial sources of Mo-99 in the United States available for patients in a way that is consistent with the goals outlined through the Nuclear Security Summit process and strengthens the global nuclear nonproliferation regime.”

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NEW: Via public records request, I’ve been able to confirm reporting today that a warrant has been issued for DOE deputy asst. secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition Sam Brinton for another luggage theft, this time at Las Vegas’s Harry Reid airport. (cc: @EMPublications)

DOE spent fuel lead Brinton accused of second luggage theft.



by @BenjaminSWeiss, confirming today's reports with warrant from Las Vegas Metro PD.

Waste has been Emplaced! 🚮

We have finally begun emplacing defense-related transuranic (TRU) waste in Panel 8 of #WIPP.

Read more about the waste emplacement here: https://wipp.energy.gov/wipp_news_20221123-2.asp

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