World isotope shortage threatens scans
Due to its short "lifespan", molybdenum 99 (used to form technetium-99m which, when injected into patients is used as a tracer to help diagnose heart disease or bone cancer) cannot be stockpiled.
Moybdenum 99 is produced in nuclear reactors. Inevitably, with the growing use of nuclear medicine, scans depend heavily on regular production. This was demonstrated in December 2007, when the supply of molybdenum 99 stopped during a Canadian nuclear reactor shut down for safety reasons. The Ontario Association of Nuclear Medicine predicted that 50,000 Canadians and 160,000 US citizens would have their examinations postponed every month as along as the reactor remained shut. To tackle that emergency, the government-owned firm Atomic Energy of Canada re-started the reactor using an emergency pump.
In Europe, in recent months, four of the five reactors that produce molybdenum-99 shut down, three for planned maintenance, one due to an unexpected problem. Among these, a Belgian reactor released uncontrolled radioactive iodine into the atmosphere; a Dutch reactor had cooling system problems and again a Canadian reactor was closed temporarily due to a hefty electrical storm. These events reduced the supply of the isotope to such an extent that physicians were advised to delay scans, giving urgent tests priority or they were advised to use different kinds of scans according to cases.
Concern has been voiced that many of the world’s reactors that produce medical isotopes are now old and therefore likely to continue with periodical shutdowns, continuing to affect radiological examinations, particularly for serious diseases such as cancer, as well as those for cardiac and bone.
* Following the recent agreement between the Bush administration and India, the latter country plans to build
18 to 20 nuclear reactors at an estimated cost of $30bn. This will place India as the world’s sixth nuclear power.
28.10.2008
