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17 Jun 2002
A novel collaboration between Los Alamos National Laboratory, U.S. industry and a Russian nuclear research institute has produced a rare radioisotope needed forcertain medical diagnostics. The three-way deal keeps Russian nuclear materials experts employed on non-military projects, serves an important medical need, and paves the way for production of other radioisotopes with medical and commercialpotential.
Earlier this month, the first shipment of irradiated metal used to produce a radioisotope now in short supply but needed for diagnosis of heart disease arrived at Los Alamos fromRussia. Processed at Los Alamos' Radioisotopes and Analytical Resource laboratory within a week, the first two batches of the resulting isotope, strontium-82, then were shipped to Bristol-Myers Squibb in New Jersey where they will be preparedfor certification by the Food and Drug Administration.
"The collaboration is making a significant contribution to our nuclear nonproliferation goals," said Los Alamos project leader Dennis Phillips. "And it also will benefit the medical field, which in turn has a commercial potential."
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