Isotope Sciences Program—A National Technology Resource
The Isotope Sciences Program at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory supports scientific advances in the production and use of radioisotopes for research, medicine, and industrial applications.
We serve government, private industry, and academic clients in the U.S. and worldwide. Our goal is to provide cost-effective and timely solutions to clients with special needs for expert services.
We perform work for the Department of Energy's Isotope Development and Production for Research and Applications (IDPRA) subprogram of the Office of Nuclear Physics in the DOE Office of Science. Please direct requests for purchase of isotopes to: the National Isotopes Development Center, Isotope Business Office at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, phone: (865)574-6984.
Program Focus
Isotope Production—ensuring an adequate supply of medical and industrial radioisotopes
- Advanced, high-purity radiochemical separation techniques for obtaining
- yttrium-90 from strontium-90
- bismuth-212 from uranium-232 progeny
- actinium-225 and bismuth-213 from thorium-229
- radium-223 and thorium-227 from actinium-227
- gadolinium-153 from europium-152 and europium-154
- Radionuclide generators for zirconium-89, bismuth-212, and bismuth-213
- Reactor and accelerator targets using radium-226 for making short-lived alpha-emitters
Recovery and Recycle—enhancing our national security
- Matching excess radioactive sources with end-users in need of those materials
- Recovery of orphan radioactive sources for safeguarding and beneficial reuse, such as strontium-90, cesium-137, radium-226, and neptunium-237
- Reprocessing and remanufacturing of radioisotope sources for special applications
Applications Research—identifying new chemistry solutions
- Advanced radiochemical separations and automated systems
- Brachytherapy seed design and testing
- Injectable radionuclide-polymer composites for high-dose interstitial cancer treatment
- Nanoparticle constructs for cell-directed radioimmunotherapy of cancer
Client Technical Support—serving the special needs of our clients
- External and internal radiation dosimetry
- Medical Internal Radiation Dosimetry (MIRD) for diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals
- Radioactive seed and restenosis stent development and testing
- Radioisotope power sources