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Old 06-03-2005, 04:47 PM
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Post Radioisotopes too important to leave to foreign suppliers

Radioisotopes too important to leave to foreign suppliers
By Michael R. Fox, Special to The Times

Imagine an aircraft manufacturer that finds it is unable to inspect the welds or key castings on the wings of a commercial jetliner because it can't obtain the tools - industrial radiation materials - necessary to do the job. Now you have an idea of some of the threats to the U.S. economy, because of our nation's almost total dependence on foreign sources for radioisotopes that are produced in nuclear reactors.

Radioisotopes are necessities not only in the aircraft industry but in almost every sector of the U.S. economy. In medicine, agriculture, industry, science, homeland security and interplanetary space probes, radioactive materials perform countless tasks more quickly and efficiently, more precisely and cheaply, than other materials.

For instance, technitium-99 - which decays from molydenum-99 - is well-known to physicians as the "workhorse" of nuclear medicine. It is used in millions of diagnostic imaging procedures at U.S. hospitals every year.

But the precursor molybdenum-99 is one of a number of critically important radioisotopes that must be imported from Canada and other countries. Because it has a short half-life of less than three days, molybdenum-99 begins to decay rapidly and must be used within a week. It cannot be stored, so the supply must be constantly replenished.

If our nation's borders were suddenly closed in a homeland-security "code red" emergency, shutting off the supply of molybdenum-99 and other radioisotopes, it would be impossible to perform medical treatments and diagnostic tests. And that could have serious consequences for many people. Every year, more than 12 million Americans - including one of every three hospital patients - are exposed to radiation or radioactive materials as part of their medical treatments.

This is not a matter of what could conceivably happen. There is cause for real alarm. Some medical research laboratories have put clinical trials of new cancer therapies on hold because the laboratories have been unable to obtain radioisotopes. Research and development in chemistry, metallurgy, genetics and biotechnology have been curtailed.

The problem has become especially acute because all but two production reactors in the United States have been shut down, largely because of opposition from nuclear opponents and "not-in-my-backyard" (NIMBY) activists.

The two remaining reactors - one at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and the other at the University of Missouri - are old and need to be modernized.

Regrettably, the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) at Hanford - which has been used for nuclear research and might have been put to good use producing radioisotopes for science and medicine - is being jettisoned. Keeping it open would have been a lot less expensive than building a new reactor elsewhere in the country.

The government must reverse America's growing dependence on foreign suppliers of radioactive isotopes. The possibility of supply interruptions is too staggering to contemplate. Without radioisotopes, homeland security itself would collapse, since radioisotopes are used in airport scanners to detect explosives and radioactive materials.

It's possible to foresee the day when the demand for radioisotopes greatly increases as a result of a breakthrough in treatments for cancer, heart disease, AIDS or other diseases. If and when that happens, it's likely that foreign countries would keep the materials for their own use or seek higher prices on the international market.

We have a serious problem on our hands, with potentially harmful effects on everything from the diagnosis and treatment of diseases to aircraft safety and homeland security.

As a nation, we must respond quickly to the challenge posed by our dependence on foreign countries for materials that are essential to our health and safety, and unite behind a plan that meets the need for a reliable and affordable supply of radioisotopes made in the United States.

Michael R. Fox is a retired nuclear scientist who held engineering and management positions at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

He is an industry consultant on issues pertaining to weapons of mass destruction. He also provides training in the physics of radioactivity. He is currently based in Kaneohe, Hawaii.

U.S. Citizen,
The Seattle Times newspaper published the article which raises our appreciation for radioisotopes applied in everyday life.
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Old 06-06-2005, 09:08 AM
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Good article but isn't this common with many of our products today. Close the border's or make an enemy of one of our supplier's would surely be detrimental to many of the issues you've discussed above.

Short comings are on the horizon for sure. Back peddling now would surely be difficult. It would drive the cost up for sure but it would lessen our external requirements.
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