China's first commercial reactor online irradiation isotope production device was put into operation, breaking the long-term dependence on imports of medical isotopes
on December 26 that according to CCTV Finance, today China's first commercial reactor online irradiation isotope production device was officially put into operation at the China National Nuclear Corporation's Qinshan Nuclear Power Base, and the first batch of short-period isotope lutetium-177 was also officially produced.
This marks that China has successfully mastered the key technology of using nuclear power commercial reactors for irradiation to produce short-period isotopes.
Medical isotopes are mostly short-half-life isotopes, which require the rapid loading and unloading of irradiation test targets to be accurately achieved during the normal operation of the reactor, making the technical difficulty rise exponentially. After repeated adjustments and multiple rounds of high-frequency discussions, Qinshan Nuclear Power designed a conceptual prototype of the device and formed a feasible plan.
The commissioning of the first commercial reactor online irradiation isotope production device
means that China has the ability to supply large quantities of isotopes stably and sustainably . Short-half-life medical isotopes such as lutetium-177 will be supplied in large quantities and stably in the future. The production capacity can fully meet domestic demand and
break the situation where China's medical isotopes have long relied on imports .