ANSTO challenges doctors’ claims on reactor-produced nuclear medicines

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation today challenged the basis of the claim by a small doctors group that Australia did not need to produce medical isotopes at Australia’s only nuclear research reactor – which provides over 500,000 Australian patients’ nuclear medicine doses each year – and could instead import the material or produce it in medical cyclotrons.

“Such claims are raised regularly by certain groups but have not been found to be justified on either technical or commercial grounds.” said ANSTO Executive Director, Dr Ian Smith. The challenge was supported by the President of the Australian and New Zealand Association of physicians in Nuclear Medicine, Dr George Larcos who said the group, called the Medical Association for the Prevention of War (MAPW), were neither experts in radioisotope production nor nuclear medicine.

“The facts are that nuclear medicine, which uses reactor produced radioisotopes, is used to diagnose and treat a broad range of diseases whereas PET, the diagnostic tool which uses cyclotron produced radioisotopes, is mainly used for certain types of cancer,” said Dr Larcos. “Put simply, one complements but does not replace the other.”

ANSTO produces 70 per cent of nuclear medicine used for Australians, predominantly Technetium-99. Producing Techneitum-99 in a cyclotron, however, as suggested by MAPW, would be time consuming, costly and produce low quality isotopes so community needs could not be met. It has not been shown to be commercially feasible anywhere in the world.

“We cannot do without a reactor long-term: the United States and Japan have the luxury of neighbouring countries producing radioisotopes; Australia does not. Importation of radioisotopes is not only more unreliable but more costly and cannot be considered a satisfactory means of healthcare delivery in this country,” concluded Dr Larcos.

The radioisotopes produced in ANSTO’s research reactor also have a variety of environmental and industrial applications.