From production to patients: ORNL is supporting America’s isotope needs

Ensuring a reliable domestic supply of critical isotopes is essential to advancing U.S. leadership in medicine, national security, industry, and scientific discovery. Oak Ridge National Laboratory produces more isotopes than any other national lab - but it doesn't sell any.

That's the job of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Isotope R&D and Production (DOE IRP) and its business arm, the National Isotope Development Center, or the NIDC.

Since the Manhattan Project era, DOE IRP and its predecessor organizations have held the sole authority to sell and distribute radioactive and stable isotopes on behalf of the federal government. Formalized in 1954, this responsibility supports a clear mission: to advance and sustain a reliable, secure, and innovative domestic supply of critical isotopes to meet U.S. needs in medicine, national security, industry, and research.

The DOE IRP is responsible for the routine production of stable and radioactive isotopes across all the national labs and its university partner sites in the University Isotope Network (UIN). The national labs and the UIN partner sites use reactors, accelerators and other methods to produce or enrich isotopes.

Since 2009, the NIDC has been located at ORNL, where it provides corporate services for sales and coordinates the distribution of isotopes, including by-products and legacy materials. Working with DOE IRP, it monitors their production, including scheduling a timeline for each production campaign; coordinates and monitors shipping; and works directly with customers to make sure the isotopes meet their specifications for research and commercial uses. It also conducts market research to provide DOE IRP with comprehensive data to determine when new isotope production methods should be developed or when production programs should be modified.

"Isotopes are high-priority commodities of strategic importance for the nation and are essential for energy, medical and national security applications and for discovery research," said DOE IRP Director Christopher Landers. "One goal of Isotope R&D and Production is to make critical isotopes more readily available to reduce or remove foreign dependencies."

In the medical sector, the demand for radioisotopes often outpaces the supply - and additional medical uses for more isotopes are being investigated all the time. The NIDC lists upward of 35 medical isotopes in its product catalog and will add others as site capabilities develop to meet critical needs.

While the DOE IRP works to ensure a reliable supply of isotopes for U.S. and international customers, it does not compete with domestic private industry. DOE IRP often serves as a catalyst for private industry by helping it develop technologies to produce isotopes. Once an isotope is widely available from commercial domestic sources, DOE IRP exits the market.