By Jon Kamp
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Operators of an important reactor in the Netherlands that supplies medical scanning isotopes confirmed on Thursday that it will soon shut for a month-long outage, an event that could compound an already serious isotope shortage.
The isotopes are injected into patients for scans to check for cancer, heart problems and other issues. A small and aging fleet of reactors supplies the global market, and shutdowns in recent years have delayed patient care and caused headaches for suppliers such as Cardinal Health Inc. (CAH) and Covidien PLC (COV).
Most recently, an unplanned outage started in mid-May at a Canadian reactor - the only one making isotopes in North America - has caused major problems. Reactor operator Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. said on Wednesday that the plant won't return to service following repairs until the end of this year at best, confirming fears the outage would last much longer than a recent three-month estimate. The Canadian outage will be followed soon by the shutdown of the "High Flux Reactor" in the Netherlands, which is run by the Nuclear Research & consultancy Group, or NRG. The organization confirmed in a press release that the plant will close as planned between July 18 and Aug. 18.
The plant operator also said it will begin a repair to primary cooling water pipes in early 2010 that will take 22 to 26 weeks to perform. "The precise planning will be finalized in consultation with the relevant authorities," NRG said.
The reactors in question produce material called molybdenum-99 that decays into technetium-99m, which is the world's most commonly used medical isotope.
MDS Inc.'s (MDZ) Nordion unit performs additional processing of material from the Canadian plant and then two companies - Covidien and privately held Lantheus Medical Imaging - make generators that produce the medical isotope. These are distributed to hospitals and through radiopharmacies, many of which are run by Cardinal Health, Covidien and General Electric Co (GE).
Companies are scrambling for alternate sources. Lantheus announced on Thursday, for example, that both U.S. and Canadian regulators have approved the company's plans to get molybdenum-99 supplies from an Australian plant that are made from low-enriched uranium.
-By Jon Kamp, Dow Jones Newswires; 617-654-6728; jon.kamp@dowjones.com