Radioisotopes are widely used for medical diagnostics and treatment such as cancer care. In particular, the Mo-99/Tc-99m system is the most commonly used medical radioisotope in the world with tens of millions of diagnostic procedures annually. Unfortunately, the current production method relies on uranium fission and yields a lot of nuclear waste. In the framework of the SMART project, IRE develops a novel production facility for Mo-99 that relies on exposing a molybdenum target with high-energy electrons (the LightHouse Isotopes concept). The planned factory will supply a large part of the global Mo-99 demand without the need for a nuclear reactor and thus, almost without nuclear waste. Read more and watch the video
