Hospitals are once again being asked to prepare for a shortfall in the isotope Molybdenum, following the closure of one of the world’s largest reactors.
The National Research Universal (NRU) reactor in Chalk River, Canada, which produces nearly 50% of the world supply of Molybdenum, was shut down on 18 May after a water leak was detected.
The Canadian Government stated the reactor would be out of production for at least three months. As a result, some European and South African supplies have been diverted to North America.
Following the news that the NRU was to close, the National Diagnostic Imaging Board, the British Nuclear Medicine Society (BNMS) and a group of industry representatives developed a proposal for the optimal utilisation of Molybdenum.
They have agreed to:
• Share programmes for molybdenum production from the reactors to allow the NHS to anticipate likely periods of shortage and manage capacity to deliver the required clinical activity within targets.
• Share delivered activity to England and to local sites on a weekly basis, ensuring that SHA returns and efficient utilisation can be mapped.
• Assist in the redistribution of activity by contacts with delivery companies licensed to transport radioactivity.
The BNMS says that it will develop a dedicated and protected area on its website to hold all information relevant to the shortage.
The organisation has also pledged to provide guidelines to support clinicians in using different radioisotopes, introducing new methodology for dose reductions and mentoring for clinical evaluation. Service leads will also be able to access support to implement any service changes.
In a move to reassure customers, the two largest isotope suppliers in the UK – Covidien and GE Healthcare – stated that they would do all they could to lessen the impact of the reactor’s closure. However, both companies admitted that planned shutdowns of the world’s remaining reactors over the coming months will inevitably lead to an isotope shortage.
This is the second time in less than a year that imaging departments have been asked to prepare for a shortfall. As reported in Synergy News October 2008, the closure of a reactor in Petten, Netherlands at the end of August 2008 coincided with temporary, planned closures of two other reactors, leading to shortages throughout Europe.
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