New Isotope Production System at Bruce Power produces first medical isotope

Bruce Powers says in a recent news release that thanks to an international collaboration between them, Isogen and ITM Isotope Technologies Munich a milestone marking the first instance of lutetium -177 a short-living medical isotope has been produced in a commercial nuclear power reactor.

It was achieved using a new Isotope Production System installed in Bruce Power’s Unit 7 during a recent planned maintenance outage.

The IPS successfully irradiated targets to produce the isotope used in precision oncology for targeted therapy of a growing number of cancers.

Treatments based on this isotope are designed to precisely target malignant cells while sparing surrounding healthy tissues.