US and Canadian approval for Polish isotope reactor
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The US FDA and Health Canada have approved the Maria Research reactor in Poland to produce the medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99). The decision follows an agreement in February between Poland's institute of atomic energy and Covidien, which will use the Mo-99 to manufacture technetium-99m, the most widely-used radioisotope for nuclear medicine imaging (www.clinica.co.uk, 24 February 2010). The move could go some way towards easing the isotope crisis that started when Canada's Chalk River facility shut down for maintenance last May, and was exacerbated when the Petten reactor in the Netherlands was also closed two months later. The Canadian reactor is due to re-open in April (www.clinica.co.uk, 11 February 2010).