Nuclear Security & Deterrence Vol. 19 No. 43
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Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor
Article 13 of 13
November 13, 2015

Wrap Up

By Alissa Tabirian

NS&D Monitor
11/13/2015

IN THE INDUSTRY

GE Healthcare and SHINE Medical Technologies said this week they have advanced a process for producing technetium-99, a medical isotope employed in over 40 million imaging procedures annually.

Pharmacies and hospitals produce the isotope using a separate isotope – molybdenum-99, which is in increasingly short supply due to outages at aging reactors that generate the material, according to a GE Healthcare press release. The United States relies on foreign sources for its full supply of mo-99. Nations have also sought to produce the isotope without using reactors fueled by nuclear weapon-usable highly enriched uranium.

The two companies said Monday that they used mo-99 produced by SHINE to generate medically usable technetium-99 via GE Healthcare’s Drytec technology. “The positive results of this test confirm that Mo-99 produced by the SHINE process can be incorporated into the existing Mo-99 supply chain,” the press release says. “Once approved by FDA, use of SHINE-produced Mo-99 in DRYTEC Tc-99m generators will not require changes to radiopharmacy practices or how the resulting Tc-99m is used in scanning procedures. SHINE is expected to begin commercial production in 2019 using this new process, and expects to be able to produce enough Mo?99 to supply two-thirds of the US patient population.”

SHINE’s process for producing mo-99 is based on low-enriched uranium rather than weapon-grade material. The company in 2014 inked an extended deal to supply mo-99 to GE Healthcare. SHINE as of October had also received $15 million in cost-sharing funds from the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration as the company seeks a Nuclear Regulatory Commission permit for construction of its planned medical isotope facility in Janesville, Wis.

 

Deborah Ricci has been appointed chief financial officer at Centerra Group, the company announced this week. The critical infrastructure services company provides security to Department of Energy facilities and currently holds a protective forces subcontract at the Los Alamos National Laboratory that is set to expire in 2018 with the option for two full-year extensions. Ricci has over 20 years of experience in financial management and was CFO for a Virginia-based counterterrorism firm prior to the appointment, the company said.

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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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