Government agencies collaborate to repurpose radioactive waste as useful radioisotopes
Two United States government agencies are collaborating to repurpose radioactive waste into usable radioisotopes.
The Department of Energy’s Office of Isotope R&D and Production and the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology are working together to produce Ra-226 from the radiological waste stored at NIST facilities. Ra-226 was previously used for multiple oncological applications.
Ra-226 brachytherapy is no longer used in modern medicine, but the National Institute of Standards and Technology previously had no easy way of safely disposing of its seeds. As such, these materials have been carefully stored through domestic and international sources. Since Ra-226 has a half-life of 1,600 years, seeds stored decades ago can still be utilized in the production of other vital radioisotopes. Perhaps most notably, Ra-226 can be used as a feedstock material to produce actinium-225—an extremely valuable radioisotope routinely used in cancer therapeutics.
This has led to new efforts to recover and repurpose these materials as the U.S. looks to reduce its reliance on the foreign production of isotopes. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the National Laboratory system also are playing a key role in the initiative.
“Recovering and repurposing these waste materials is key to strengthening a secure, resilient domestic medical isotope supply chain,” said Christopher Landers, Director of Isotope R&D and Production. “By working in partnership with NIST and leveraging the capabilities of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the National Laboratory system, we are converting previously unused materials into a strategic resource that supports U.S. leadership in cancer therapy and radioisotope production while improving safety for workers and removing long-term hazards for facilities.”
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has worked alongside the Department of Energy to develop more reliable methods of transporting Ra-226 once it has been processed and purified. This work will support the lab's ability to complete these procedures from across the world, helping to ensure the reliability of the isotope supply chain both domestically and internationally.
“These materials were very well-characterized and [the National Institute of Standards and Technology] has impeccable facility controls, infrastructure, and highly skilled staff in place,” said Matt Fountain, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's project manager on the effort. “The therapeutic promise of actinium-225 is significant, and the limits on supply have direct impacts on the ability for cancer patients to access life-saving treatments. By leveraging existing Ra-226, we can increase the domestic production capacity of actinium-225.”
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In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.