De Pallas business case
In June 2013, Laka Foundation published The Pallas business case - between dream and reality (in Dutch). It is an assessment of the plans for a new research reactor which is said to be necessary for the production of medical isotopes. The reactor should be privately funded (expected costs doubled to 600 million euro in a few years) and should enter operation in 2023. Laka raises serious doubts about the business case and fears that government has to step in at a later stage to save the project with public money. The could be a choice if there were no alternatives for the production of medical isotopes, but there is: See below the May 2010 Laka report: Medical Radioisotope Production Without A Nuclear Reactor.
- tussen droom en werkelijkheidHere you can find an English summary of the June 2013 report.
Production of Radioisotopes Without A Nuclear Reactor
Reactor not necessary for production isotopes for medical uses
Medical imaging is one of the fastest growing disciplines in medicine. The development of innovative new imaging modalities and radiopharmaceuticals has improved the ability to study biological structures and functions
in health and disease, and continues to contribute to the evolution of medical care.
Artificially made radioisotopes, among which those for medical use, are mainly produced by research reactors. Currently more than 80% of the medical radioisotopes are produced by research reactors. The remaining isotopes are made by particle accelerators, mostly with circular accelerators (cyclotrons) and sometimes with linear accelerators (linacs), or by other methods. Production of medical isotopes is used by the nuclear industry as public relation for nuclear research reactors
This report is answering the key question: Is it possible to ban the use of research reactors for the production of medical radioisotopes?
The answer is 'yes'.Radioisotopes production with cyclotrons offers many advantages over a nuclear reactor.
* Firstly, the volume of radioactive waste produced by cyclotrons is far less and much less hazardous than the radioactive waste of research reactors.
* Secondly, the production is decentralized. Cyclotrons are located hospital-based, by which the delivery of pharmaceuticals to patients is much more secured. In addition the risk of transport accidents is practically zero.
* Thirdly, there are no risks due to nuclear-power accidents, because there is no need for controlled chain reactions.
* Fourthly, there is no nuclear proliferation risk.Download the research report (38 pages, 800kb)
A shortened Dutch version is available for download here
May 22, 2010