Brussels, 05/09/2008 (Agence Europe) - The fact that a nuclear reactor in Petten (Netherlands) was put out of service for an extended period of time for safety reasons will very certainly delay examinations for the diagnosis of cancer in the EU due to the lack of technetium, a medical isotope. “We are doing everything we can to enable a restart” but, in any case, this will not be before the end of October, the Nuclear Research Group (NRG), which manages the production, states in a press release.
The Petten reactor produces one third of world isotope production for diagnostic purposes. These isotopes are used for scintigraphy, a medical imaging technique that mainly allows bone metastasis to be detected. The halt in the reactor's production will have an impact on the medical isotope markets as it “will not produce any medical isotopes in the months of September and October”, NRG added, announcing the date of 25 October for resumption of production. Technetium is, according to the NRG website (http://www.nrg-nl.com ), used in 80% of diagnostic procedures in nuclear medicine. Some 7 million examinations are carried out each year in Europe using technetium, NRG states. It is impossible to stock these isotopes as they have a limited shelf life.
Five reactors, located in the Netherlands, Canada, France, Belgium and South Africa, produce isotopes for the global pharmaceutical industry. The problem is that the reactors in Belgium and France are now undergoing maintenance. Shortly after the incident, France, which holds the EU Council Presidency until the end of December, predicted that “in the short term, this fault will entail a shortage at European level”. The break in technetium supply will therefore force hospital nuclear medicine services in Europe to relocate some examinations or use other methods, the health minister announced. He went on to point out, however, on Friday 5 September as reported by AFP, that, since other world producers have been approached, “Canada should be able to partially meet European needs as of mid-September subject to the final conclusion of a trade agreement”. (B.C./transl.jl)