New facility will ensure steady supply of medical isotopes

Contact: David Lyons, (505) 665 9198 (00-120)

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Sept. 11, 2000 -- To ensure that U.S. researchers have a steady supply of medical isotopes, the U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory is building a new Isotope Production Facility to replace an existing facility. Construction of the $16.5 million IPF began in February, and the project should be completed in June 2002.

Once operational, the IPF will support eight months of isotope production annually. Combining its output with similar isotope production capabilities at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York will ensure doctors and researchers an adequate, year-round supply of accelerator-produced medical isotopes.

U.S. researchers use medical isotopes to perform 36,000 diagnostic procedures daily and 50,000 therapies annually, along with 100 million lab tests annually. DOE's Office of Isotopes for Medicine and Sciences estimates the annual value of these procedures to the medical industry at between $7 billion and $10 billion.

Los Alamos' Neutron Science Center Division and Chemistry Division have produced some of these medical isotopes, such as Strontium-82 and Germanium-68, at Technical Area 53 for more than 20 years under DOE's Isotope Production and Distribution Program, said Carol Burns, deputy director for C Division.

"The program is an essential element of the nation's overall health-care system, and Los Alamos' ability to deliver key medical isotopes to customers is a critical part of the DOE program," she added.

Researchers use radioisotopes in clinical trials; to diagnose and treat diseases such as cancer, epilepsy and coronary artery disease; to perform research and development of new pharmaceuticals; and in other medical research and treatment applications. Millions of patients would be adversely affected if medical isotopes weren't available.

In the past, targets were irradiated with LANSCE's half-mile-long linear accelerator, then shipped to a Chemistry Division facility at Technical Area 48 for processing. Los Alamos processes irradiated targets obtained from other sources worldwide as well.

Needed upgrades to LANSCE's facility and accelerator eventually will make it impossible for Los Alamos to continue using the current isotope production facility. To avoid interruption of the nation's medical isotope supply and continue serving this important mission, DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy funded construction of the new Isotope Production Facility.

The new facility, also located at TA-53, will irradiate a wide range of materials underground, including rubidium chloride, gallium and other targets, using a portion of the LANSCE proton beam. The irradiated targets will be raised to ground level via a specially designed transport system and placed in certified shipping containers. Los Alamos then will ship the targets to TA-48 for isotope processing and recovery via chemical processes.

The new building is a collaborative effort among Los Alamos, Michael S. Rich Contractors, Inc., J.B. Henderson Construction Co. and Merrick and Company. Los Alamos' Design Engineering Group and Accelerator Maintenance and Development Group designed the special beam line and target handling equipment for the IPF, in collaboration with experts inside and outside the Laboratory.

Richard Heaton of Los Alamos' Nuclear and Radiochemistry Group is the IPF project manager, and Armando Cordova of Los Alamos' Project Management Division is the engineering and construction project leader.

More news releases from the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE)