The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) has completed a $180 million expansion of its medical isotope production facility at Lucas Heights, significantly increasing Australia’s capacity to produce molybdenum-99 and other radioisotopes used in diagnostic imaging.

The expanded facility can produce enough molybdenum-99 to supply Australia’s needs and export to hospitals across Asia. That’s strategically important because the global medical isotope supply chain is fragile and has experienced multiple disruptions over the past decade.

Molybdenum-99 decays into technetium-99m, the most widely used medical radioisotope. It’s used in about 40 million diagnostic procedures worldwide each year, mostly for imaging heart disease and cancer.

The isotope has a 66-hour half-life, meaning it loses half its radioactivity every 66 hours. That short half-life makes stockpiling impossible. Hospitals depend on reliable weekly deliveries from a small number of production facilities, mostly in Europe and North America.

When those facilities shut down for maintenance or experience technical problems, hospitals face isotope shortages that force them to delay diagnostic procedures. That happened several times in the 2010s when aging reactors in Canada and the Netherlands went offline unexpectedly.

ANSTO’s expanded capacity makes the Asia-Pacific region less vulnerable to supply disruptions originating elsewhere. The organisation already supplies New Zealand, Singapore, and several other regional markets. The new facility triples production capacity.

Dr. Adi Paterson, ANSTO’s executive director, said the expansion positions Australia as a reliable supplier for the region. “Medical isotopes are critical health infrastructure. Countries don’t want to depend on supplies that might be disrupted by events halfway around the world.”

The production process uses ANSTO’s OPAL research reactor to irradiate highly enriched uranium targets, producing molybdenum-99 as a fission product. The targets are then dissolved and chemically processed to extract and purify the isotope.

It’s a technically demanding process that requires sophisticated remote handling equipment because of the high radiation levels. The new facility includes state-of-the-art hot cells where robotic systems handle the radioactive materials.

ANSTO is also working on alternative production methods that don’t require highly enriched uranium. That’s partly driven by nuclear security concerns; highly enriched uranium is weapons-usable material, and there’s an international push to minimise its civilian use.

The alternative methods use low-enriched uranium or produce molybdenum-99 through neutron capture rather than fission. Both approaches generate less radioactive waste and raise fewer security concerns, but they’re currently more expensive than the fission method.

Beyond molybdenum-99, ANSTO produces several other medical isotopes including iodine-131 for thyroid cancer treatment and lutetium-177 for certain types of neuroendocrine tumors. The expanded facility increases production capacity for these isotopes as well.

The commercial side of ANSTO’s isotope business operates through ANSTO Synroc, a wholly owned subsidiary that handles sales and logistics. Revenue from isotope exports helps fund ANSTO’s research activities.

Whether medical isotope production qualifies as an economic success story depends on how you measure it. ANSTO’s isotope business generates roughly $50 million annually in export revenue, but the facility cost hundreds of millions to build and requires substantial ongoing subsidies.

The economic case rests partly on strategic considerations beyond direct revenue. Reliable isotope supply enables nuclear medicine services that save lives and reduce healthcare costs by enabling earlier diagnosis and more targeted treatment.

Some health economists argue that Australia should invest more in isotope research and production because of the sector’s growth potential. Global demand for medical isotopes is increasing as populations age and nuclear medicine techniques improve.

The facility expansion took four years from design to completion. Construction was complicated by the need to work in a nuclear facility with strict safety and security requirements. All equipment had to be installed and tested while ANSTO’s existing production continued.

The project employed around 200 workers during peak construction, many of whom needed security clearances and radiation safety training. Finding workers with the right combination of skills and clearances was occasionally challenging.

ANSTO is now looking at further expansions to produce next-generation isotopes for targeted alpha therapy, an emerging cancer treatment approach. Those isotopes include actinium-225 and lead-212, which are even more difficult to produce than molybdenum-99.

Alpha therapy uses isotopes that emit alpha particles, which travel only short distances but deliver lethal radiation doses to cells they contact. By attaching these isotopes to antibodies that target cancer cells, doctors can deliver radiation precisely to tumors while sparing healthy tissue.

Clinical trials suggest alpha therapy is effective against several cancer types that resist conventional treatment, but production capacity for the necessary isotopes remains extremely limited worldwide.

If ANSTO can scale up production of these isotopes, it could position Australia at the forefront of an emerging medical technology. That’s a significant opportunity for a country that often struggles to commercialise research.

The isotope facility expansion is one of several major infrastructure projects at Lucas Heights. ANSTO is also upgrading its neutron scattering capabilities and expanding its silicon doping business, which produces silicon crystals for power electronics.