Industry expert Wayne Webster had expressed skepticism last year in the pages of DOTmed News about various government-sponsored attempts to wean the U.S. off highly enriched uranium sources of molybdenum-99. So with the passage of the American Medical Isotope Production Act of 2011, new federal legislation aimed at phasing out HEU-sourced moly, we asked Mr. Webster to share his thoughts on the topic. His response is below.

Mr. Nafziger did a laudable job summing up the American Medical Isotope Production Act of 2011, which passed Congress last month and was signed into law. This legislation is well intentioned but doesn't solve the problem.

Every time Congress steps up at the end of a session and passes a last-minute bill people get excited and think they've won a victory. The American Medical Isotope Act of 2011 is just such a bill. The only substantive part of this legislation is the title. Otherwise it's short on funding, intent and any sense of reality. This legislation is not providing a path to a domestic supply of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) but is seeking ways to lessen or stop the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU) because of a fear of terrorist activity.
The bill's sponsors recognized many of the reactors used to produce our supply of Mo-99 are aging and that is causing problems as they go offline for service or — worse — for good. Congress agreed to support the development of alternate sources of Mo-99 whether those sources are reactors using low enriched uranium (LEU) or accelerator-based systems like cyclotrons for the direct production of the Mo-99 daughter technecium-99m (Tc-99m).

The potential to develop reactor sources using LEU is technically feasible. The science of separating the Tc-99m is understood. But it's going to take development time and money to reach a viable commercial outcome.

Accelerator-based, direct production of Tc-99m is technically feasible, too. I expect the cyclotron companies are chomping at the bit hoping this will be the favored solution. With a 6-hour half-life, we'll need a cyclotron on every corner to accomplish delivery of doses to the many centers around the country performing the 18 million nuclear medicine scans taken annually that use the substance. This solution could get a bit pricey.

Everyone seems to agree on one point about changing production methods forMo-99. It's going to take seven or more years to develop and the costs will be hundreds of millions of dollars. Unfortunately, Congress in its beneficence didn't provide any funding within the bill.

More Industry Headlines