The House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment held a hearing this month on the current concern regarding medical Isotopes (See DM 10148). The legislative hearing focused on H.R. 3276, the American Medical Isotopes Production Act of 2009.

The legislation promotes production of molybdenum-99 in the United States for medical uses. Molybdenum 99 is a "parent" generator radioisotope to the radioisotope technetium-99.

The bill has $163 million earmarked for the Secretary of Energy to support domestic production of molybdenum-99 without the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU). HEU is a concern due to its use in nuclear weapons and explosives, and excess material being used by terrorists or rogue states. The legislation also amends the Atomic Energy Act, prohibiting issuance of any export licenses for highly enriched uranium for medical isotope production for seven to ten years.
Three witnesses testified at the hearing, all supporting the legislation. Dr. Parrish Staples of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Department of Energy, began the hearing by describing recent efforts in addressing the current and anticipated shortages of molybdenum-99 and the NNSA's efforts to accelerate the establishment of a domestic commercial supply of molybdenum-99 that does not require HEU. Dr. Staples pointed out no facilities now exist within the United States dedicated to the production of molybdenum-99 for medical uses; the U.S. imports 100 percent of domestic supply from foreign production facilities that use HEU in the production processes. In the past few years, unexpected shutdowns of the primary producers have severely impacted the global molybdenum-99 supply chain, as DOTmed News has reported.

Dr. Staples cited a 2009 National Academies report that confirmed production of molybdenum-99 production without use of HEU is technically and economically feasible. NNSA is developing projects to advance domestic commercial sources of molybdenum-99, including cooperative agreements with potential commercial producers. The commercial producers' quantities of molybdenum-99 are hoped to be adequate for medical demand by 2013. The producers are using differing non-HEU technologies. Dr. Staples stated the NNSA intends to spend about $30 million annually to establish a non-HEU domestic molybdenum-99 production process, funded from the Global Threat Reduction Initiative budget.