by
Kathy Mahdoubi, Senior Correspondent | June 17, 2009
The Canadian Maple plant, two reactors which were built in part by MDS Nordion to produce the majority, if not all the U.S. demand for Molybdenum, have been sitting dormant and now it looks as though they may never come online.
"There are numerous issues with that facility," said Dr. Atcher. "The reactor is not operating according to its specifications. The decision was not to operate it."
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In addition, Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper has announced that Canada will no longer produce medical isotopes as of 2016, said Atcher.
The U.S. government also wants a shift from highly enriched uranium targets to lowly enriched uranium targets that do not encourage weapons proliferation. The Maple facility was not set up for so-called LEU targets.
Coordinated shutdowns, diversification of sources, the restart of the Chalk River facility and Covidien's future development of a LEU reactor with Babcock & Wilcox should alleviate some of the stress on the Molybdenum market, but a more sustainable solution has not yet been presented.
"We are confident that we can lift the world out of the crises to prevent future shortages," said Dr. Graham.
Future developments
The president called on regulators and funding bodies to work in close collaboration with scientists and suppliers to push new agents through. SNM is spearheading a clinical trials network and will be promoting ARRA funding for comparative effectiveness studies in molecular imaging.
"We are moving into an era of molecular imaging and our physicians are going to be called molecular imaging physicians in the future," said Graham. As the field becomes increasingly more advanced, the same level of advancement in physician training is required. SNM endeavors to be at forefront of that training in order to ensure that patients receive the best care possible.
Read More on DOTmed
Related DOTmed News reports about the 56th SNM annual meeting, the radiopharmaceutical shortage, and nuclear medicine topics:
Industry Sector Report: Nuclear Medicine, DOTmed Business News, June 2009, now online
MO-99 Suppliers Find New Sources
https://www.dotmed.com/news/story/9406/
SNM Outgoing President Robert Atcher Discusses Isotope Supply and Molecular Imaging
https://www.dotmed.com/news/story/9343/
Canadian Health Minister and SNM Leaders Meet in Toronto
https://www.dotmed.com/news/story/9346/
Medical Isotope Shortage Reaching Crisis Proportions
