European hospitals cope with Mo-99 supply crisis

December 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Vol. 30 No. 12 European hospitals cope with Mo-99 supply crisis Petten reactor shutdown disrupts nuclear medicine in 20 European countries and U.S. until mid-January Nuclear medicine services in 20 European countries, the U.S., and Canada are learning to cope with the potential daily disruptions in the normal supply of molybdenum-99 from the forced shutdown of the High Flux Reactor in Petten, the Netherlands. The HFR is one of two main sources of Mo-99 in Europe and an important source for nuclear imaging facilities in the U.S. Its operator, the Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group, announced an extended shutdown of the facility when a small core reactor coolant leak was discovered during routine maintenance Aug. 15. Providers learned Oct. 15 that the reactor would not be ready to resume isotope production until mid-January 2009.

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