Why an Offline Nuclear Reactor Led to Thousands of Hospital Appointments Being Canceled

Quick Summary:

Radioisotopes are a vital resource for imaging patients’ organs and tumors—but these unstable elements also suffer from an unstable supply chain.

NRG’s Petten reactor is one of just six major commercial producers of molybdenum-99, a key medical radioisotope.

October’s shutdown happened to occur at exactly the same time as one of the other six reactors that make molybdenum-99 was offline for maintenance, meaning a shortage was unavoidable.“It was unfortunate timing,” says Schram.

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Author / Journalist: Chris Baraniuk

Category: TechnologyEconomy

Markets: United StatesAustraliaBelgiumCanadaMaliNetherlandsSouth Africa

Topics: Science / Health Science

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Published On: 2024-11-27 @ 11:27:10 (11 hours ago)

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Language: English

Article Length: 1956 words

Reading Time: 11 minutes read

Sentences: 81 lines

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News ID: 23905034

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