Babcock & Wilcox may produce medical isotopes

Members of the nuclear medicine field are asking the federal government to clear the way for Babcock & Wilcox’s proposed facility that would create medical isotopes and could be built in Campbell County.

Without B&W’s facility or a similar project at the University of Missouri-Columbia, the nation could face a shortage of an isotope that is needed for thousands of procedures each day, the medical experts warn. They also want these projects to replace foreign suppliers that use weapons-grade nuclear fuel and produce more waste.

In recent months two groups have asked Congress to help pay for the projects and clear regulatory hurdles to get them running sooner.

In Lynchburg, B&W officials are considering ways to finish the project before 2014, their original deadline.

“We’d like to accelerate that,” said Bob Cochran, president of B&W’s Technical Services Group, which is headquartered in Lynchburg. “A lot of that hinges on what we do.”

B&W’s proposed facility would use small nuclear reactors to produce Molybdenum-99. Covidien, a medical supply firm, would use that to create Technitium-99, which is used in procedures that detect cancer, heart disease and other conditions. Cochran said that millions of those procedures are performed each year. “There’s a fairly steady demand for this product,” he said.

The project will need approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Comm-ission and the Food and Drug Administration. On Wednesday, the NRC will have its first public meeting on the project.

B&W is still looking for a location to build the facility. The Lynchburg area is high on the company’s list of choices, Cochran said. “We want to keep the technology and the reactor close to us,” he said.

However, B&W also needs to consider the needs of Covidien, which would process the isotopes in St. Louis, Mo., he said.

Ross Thomas, vice president of B&W’s Technical Service Group, said the company has talked with the economic development officials in the state and Campbell County about incentives they could offer. He said the facility would provide about 60 full-time jobs.

B&W employs more than 2,500 people in the Lynchburg area. Its headquarters are in Lynchburg, and it has a manufacturing facility on Mt. Athos Road in Campbell County.

B&W’s plans are garnering attention from experts in the field because of the need for a reliable, domestic supply of the Molybdenum isotope.

Currently, the only suppliers are outside the U.S. Covidien gets its Molybdenum-99 from the Netherlands, said Thomas.

B&W’s facility could create enough of the isotope to supply half of the U.S. market. The University of Missouri has proposed a similar project that also could supply half of the U.S. market.

The need for a domestic supplier is highlighted by the recent shutdown of a Canadian isotopes facility. It closed in May and is still undergoing repairs for a leak. According to the facility’s Web site, it does not have a projected date to return to service.

According to the Society of Nuclear Medicine, foreign suppliers have had unexpected shutdowns since late 2007. The industry group has been “disturbed” by shortages of Molybdenum-99 due to those shutdowns. The society has said that the projects proposed by B&W and the University of Missouri are “the most viable solutions” to the need for a steady supply of isotopes.

In March the industry group asked Congress to give the Missouri project $35 million. For the B&W facility, which involves two corporations that can finance it, the society said the government should speed up the regulatory process.

In June a group of 16 medical and nuclear experts wrote to Congress, urging it to help pay for either the university’s project or B&W’s. Alan Kuperman, the author of that letter, said his group did not recommend how much money should be given or to whom.

Cochran said that B&W does not need federal dollars for its facility, but it would consider accepting money if Congress offered it.

In addition to the need for a reliable supply of isotopes, Kuperman’s coalition of industry experts also was interested in B&W’s plan to use low-enriched uranium, while existing Molybdenum-99 suppliers require weapons-grade uranium.

B&W’s facility would use low-enriched uranium in a process that would be safer and more efficient, needing less fuel and producing less nuclear waste.

“That’s why it’s cheaper,” said Evans Reynolds, manager of B&W’s medical isotopes program. “That’s why it’s greener. That’s why it’s the right thing to do.”