Production at a European nuclear reactor may restart earlier than expected, potentially relieving an expected radioisotope shortage that could affect medical imaging operations globally.
A shortage of radioisotopes Mo-99 and Tc-99m was first reported Oct. 14 by Nuclear Medicine Europe and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, after a planned reactor restart was delayed.
A reactor in the Netherlands plans to restart Nov. 4, and another in Poland planned its restart for Oct. 31, according to an Oct. 30 news release from SNMMI.
If both restarts are successful, any shortage of Mo-99 will be resolved by the week of Nov. 11, the release said.