The NNSA intends to grant SHINE Technologies cost-share funding to build and operate a new facility for producing the medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) without the use of highly-enriched uranium, according to a March 4 filing in the Federal Register.
The agency filed an unpublished version of the decision last week.
SHINE received a construction permit for the facility in 2016 and an operating license in 2019. This week’s announcement of a modification to that deal follows an environmental study that shows the modified facility’s impact will not differ from an initial study drawn up in 2015.
Mo-99 decays into technetium-99, commonly used for medical diagnostic procedures. The byproduct’s primary uses include diagnosing heart disease and cancer and studying organ structure and function.
In the past, the National Nuclear Security Administration has given several U.S. companies financial aid to produce molybdenum-99, including SHINE Medical Technologies, Janesville, Wis., NorthStar Medical Technologies, Beloit, Wis., and Niowave Inc., Lansing, Michigan.
Historically, the isotope was made abroad with highly enriched uranium. In 2021, the Department of Energy effectively ended exports of highly enriched uranium to foreign manufacturers of Mo-99.
Beginning In 2012, Congress passed the American Medical Isotopes Production Act, which through the National Nuclear Security Administration, competitively awards 50/50 cost-shared cooperative agreements to commercial entities and provides funds to the DOE National Laboratories to support the development of molybdenum-99 production technologies without the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU).
