Another setback hits the world of medical isotopes as the Argentine front-runner to build a proposed Dutch research reactor loses the gig while Korean firms mull stepping into the breach, the Korean press is reporting.

On Tuesday, the Korean paper Dong-a Ilbo reported that INVAP, the Argentine power company, with Spanish engineering business Isolux, named "priority partners" for the project last June, lost their shot at developing the PALLAS reactor. The 80-megawatt research reactor, to be run by Dutch firm NRG, is intended to produce molybdenum-99, the precursor to technetium-99, an isotope used widely in nuclear medicine but with a fragile supply chain.

According to the paper, Yang Myeong-seung, the director of Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, one of the businesses that made up the South Korean consortium that landed second place on the bid to make the reactor, was told the deal with the Argentine firm was off in an email on January 15 from the Energy Research Center, NRG's partner in planning PALLAS.

When reached by DOTmed News, an NRG spokeswoman declined to comment, citing contractual obligations.

Although this setback would certainly delay the development of PALLAS, the project doesn't appear to have died. Yang also told Dong-a Ilbo that the Dutch company would tender another offer in the second half of the year, and that the Korean consortium, which also includes Korea Power Engineering Co. and Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, might step in again.

According to the paper, the contract is worth nearly $608 million.

Lee Joon-seung, a reporter at Yonhap News Agency, a Korean news service, told DOTmed News he expects the Korean consortium to jump back into the fray more as a matter of branding than for the size of the contract.

"My personal view is that it will take another shot at PALLAS even if the profit margin is small. The important thing for KAERI and South Korea is to make known that it is serious about entering the global research reactor market," Lee wrote in an email.

KAERI is expected to finalize a deal to build Jordan's first nuclear reactor in March, according to Lee. "[O]fficials are desirous of following this up with other deals," Lee adds.

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